


What We Know | John Laurens x Reader

by SunkissedChild5



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: American Revolution, F/M, Reader-Insert, Revolutionary War, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 29
Words: 31,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27092266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunkissedChild5/pseuds/SunkissedChild5
Summary: Y/N didn't know that joining the revolution would bring such craziness into her life. Craziness meaning John Laurens.~~~When Y/N unexpectantly dies on her 18th birthday, she wakes up to see a strange man standing above her."Miss? Are you okay?""I'm fine, sir. Where exactly are we?""New York City. My name is Alexander Hamilton."That was when reality hit me harder than that car.
Relationships: John Laurens/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Time Flies

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first reader insert story, so let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

Most people would tell you that time flies when you're having fun. I would say that times flies when you're about to die. It did for me.

"Y/N, can you run to the store real quick? Were going to need a cake if y'all want a successful birthday party," called my mom from the kitchen.

Later today was me and my twin Isabelle's birthday party, and we were trying to set decorate the house.

"Sure!" I smiled, heading downstairs and grabbing my purse and phone. The store wasn't far, so I chose to walk.

While I walked I listened to my Hamilton playlist on shuffle, smiling as 'Aaron Burr, sir' began. Needless to say, I was a little distracted.

Maybe it was my fault or maybe it was their fault, but regardless, as I stepped off the sidewalk to cross the street, a speeding car turned the corner. I never heard them getting closer and closer, and they never looked and saw me walking. We both felt the impact though.

It was over quickly. The pain that is. My life? Not exactly.

When I woke up I was laying on the wet pavement being shaken slightly by short man. He was wearing a brown coat with a tan shirt and pants and he had his hair tied back in a low ponytail.

"Miss? Are you okay?" he asked concernedly. I sat up slightly leaning on my elbows.

"I'm fine, sir," I said looking around, "Where exactly are we?"

Everything around us was old and colorless. There were wooden signs hanging above the doors of shops and bars, and there was no sidewalk lining the dirt road.

He gave me a weird look as if it was the most obvious thing on earth. "New York City."

My eyes widened in shock and I stared at him in disbelief. He offered me hand and I nervously took it, standing to my feet.

"My name is Alexander Hamilton," he said proudly. That was when reality hit me harder than that car.

My name is Alexander Hamilton  
And there's a million things I haven't done  
But just you wait  
Just you wait

A month ago my mother took my sister and I to go see Hamilton as a high school graduation gift. Hamilton died over 200 years ago.

I was in the past.

If I was to mess this up, I could possibly change everything. I could possibly end up never being born. I couldn't let that happen.

"I'm Y/N Owens," I stammered, saying the first last name that I could think of.

"That's a beautiful name," he smiled, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles softly. I had to fight not to pull my hand away from the oddness of it all.

"Thank you," I muttered.

"You're very welcome. Maybe we should get you home before you start getting odd looks," he suggested, gesturing to my outfit of choice.

I looked down in confusion. What was wrong with my shirt and sweatpants? I saw a girl in a green dress walk into a nearby tailor shop with a man who I assumed was her husband.

Oh. Women don't wear shirts and sweatpants here, they wear dresses. "I don't have a home," I frowned, looking down at my frayed sneakers.

"You can stay at my place then," he insisted, linking my arm with his and leading me off down the street. This definitely the right way to 'not change history'.

"Where are you from, Miss Owens?" he asked. I almost didn't answer, not recognizing my fake last name.

"Please, sir, call me Y/N," I answered, panicking as I tried to think of a convincing back story.

"I'm from Spain," I lied, "My family and I just immigrated here from Barcelona."

"Where's your family?" he inquired, turning to face me with confusion. Darn it, Hamilton. Why do you have to ask so many questions?

I pushed my h/c hair out of my face, nervously. "We were uh... separated on the way here," I faltered.

"Oh. I'm sorry for asking," he said softly.

"It's okay," I told him. It's not okay. My families probably being told that I'm dead right now. My twin probably thinks that I died on our birthday.

I turned my head away from him so that he wouldn't see the tears that were gathering in my eyes.

Eventually, we arrived at a worn out looking house. I guess it would make sense that Alex lived in poverty. This must be before he married Eliza then.

"Welcome to my home," he smiled, holding open the door for me. I walked inside and into the living room where a very uncomfortable looking couch sat.

"It's not much, " he sighed, "but it's important to me."

"It's perfectly fine," I said following him into a nearby bedroom. There was a small bed against the back wall and a dresser opposite to it.

"You can have my bed for tonight," he said, gesturing to the bed. "Tomorrow we should be able to find you something uptown."

I nodded and took a seat on the mattress, wincing at how uncomfortable it felt in comparison to my bed back home.

Eventually, he left the room, leaving me to attempt to go to sleep. It wasn't working. Today was way too eventful and weird.

I wondered what was happening back home. Did the party guests still show up? Has my family even been told that I'm dead yet? How's Isabelle taking the news?

She would be absolutely devastated. Me and her have always been so close with each other. And on our birthday.

A tear slipped from my eye and I brushed it away hurriedly. Focus on the present, Y/N, I told myself. I yawned and closed my eyes, trying to ignore the fact that Alexander Hamilton was asleep on the couch nearby.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well that night.


	2. Uptown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Y'all should be super proud of me. I mean, I wrote one and a half chapters yesterday! That's a lot of work for me. Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

When Hamilton woke me up the next morning, the sun was barely rising. "Y/N, we need to take you shopping," he said softly, knocking lightly on the bedroom door.

"Right now?" I yawned. I stood up, wincing from the pain in my back and neck. Sleeping on this mattress felt like sleeping on a bed of rocks. It was not a very nice feeling.

"Yes now," he chuckled.

"Okay then," I sighed, "I'll be out in five minutes." I tried my best to straighten up my clothes so that I didn't look like a homeless woman in men's clothes, which I technically was.

I opened the door while running my fingers through my h/c hair one last time, trying to free it of knots. Hamilton stood by the front door waiting for me.

As we were walking through town, arms linked, I became curious. "So, what exactly shopping for?" I asked him.

"Well, first we need to get you a nice dress. Luckily I know a place where dresses aren't that expensive," he sighed, running a hand threw his hair.

"Wait a minute, how much do they cost?" I asked, fearing that he would be spending far too much on me.

"About 1$," he sighed.

"I can't allow you to spend that much on me!" I protested. If I was remembering correctly, one dollar in the 1700s is about sixty dollars from my normal time.

"Then you are to walk around in men's clothes forever?" he said sarcastically. I felt anger rise up in me when he said that, but I reminded myself that this is not 2020. What I'm wearing is men's clothes in this time.

"I'll pay you back, Mr. Hamilton," I promised.

"First of all, call me Alex. I can't be much older than you so 'Mr' just sounds weird. Second of all, I would not accept your money if you attempted to repay me."

I glared at him lightly, knowing that he was too stubborn to let me win. He really does look about my age, come to think of it.

"I'm eighteen," I mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear.

"I'm nineteen," he smiled.

Eventually, we arrived at Mulligans Tailor Shop. Upon stepping inside we were greeted by a tall man standing behind a desk. "I'm Hugh Mulligan. How may I help you?"

"My friend Y/N needs a dress, please," Alex said gesturing to me.

"Okay then, just send her to the back and my son will take her measurements," he smiled. I bristled slightly at the way that they were talking about me as if I wasn't there, reminding myself once again that I'm in the 1700s.

Alex led me towards the back room and I stepped inside to see a young man around my age. He was tall and muscular and wore a gray beanie.

"Hello, Miss," he said taking my hand and kissing me softly on the knuckles. That was going to be very difficult to get used to.

"Good morning, sir! And please, call me Y/N," I said politely.

"Then call me Hercules," he beamed, leading me onto a slight platform in the middle of the room. The lyrics to 'My Shot' began playing in my head.

~~~

Yo, I'm a tailors apprentice   
And I got y'all knuckleheads in local parentis

~~~

While I stood there, he moved around the room grabbing pins and needles before heading back to me. For a while he stood, taking my measurements with a strip of paper by cutting notches where the measurement began and ended.

Eventually, he turned away from me and started going through a rack of dresses. "Lucky for you, I have a dress that's almost exactly your size. I'll just need to adjust it of course," he mused before pulling out a beautiful blue dress.

"I love it," I breathed, staring at the beautiful color of the dress.

"Here you go," he smiled, handing me the dress to try on. "You'll also need this," Hercules added, handing me a corset off of the wall.

He turned away so that I could change, and I began struggling to make sense of the confusing garment. I fought with it for quite some time before I had successfully put on the dress and corset.

"Beautiful," he breathed, turning around to slightly adjust the size of the dress. I blushed slightly, wincing at how painful the corset was. It was as if it was crushing my ribs and stomach between two steel walls.

Eventually, he moved and opened the backroom door for me. "Thank you very much, Hercules," I smiled before leaving the room and heading back to Alex.

"Wow," Alex breathed, taken aback by the sight of me in my new dress. I blushed and linked arms with him watching as he paid Mr. Mulligan.

I still felt bad about him paying for my dress. I would pay him back someday. I just needed to get a job first.

After we left the tailors shop, we started down the path to the milliners where they sold accessories like shoes and hats. Then I heard an odd noise coming from down the street.

"Is that music?!" I said excitedly. Isabelle and I have always loved music since we were little. We would sing duets together for our family all of the time and there was always music playing when we were around.

Alex stopped to listen for a moment before smiling goofily and leading towards the sound. "They're playing music in the square!" he beamed, walking even faster.

We arrived to see a man sitting on the ground with a phonograph at his side. (Yes I know that they didn't exist yet, but we're gonna pretend that they did)

There was a small crowd of people dancing to the classical music that the man was playing. "Come on, Y/N," smiled Alex, tugging me towards the dancers.

"Absolutely not," I frowned, planting my feet to avoid being dragged into embarrassing myself. "I don't dance!"

"Please!" he begged, giving me his best puppy dog eyes. "I'm sure you dance just fine."

"Yeah for a five year old!" I whined, causing us both to start laughing. He took the opportunity to drag me into the crowd.

"Alex!" I protested, but he placed a hand on my waist, grabbing the other with his free hand. I nervously placed a hand on his shoulder, looking up at him with a slight smile.

He began moving slowly to the music, guiding me as I stepped on his toes multiple times in a row. Each time he would just laugh and keep going.

After a while, I began to get the hang of it and we swayed with the crowd, looking almost as if we fit in.

I stepped on Alex's toes again and looked up at him, giggling slightly. He looked down at me with a soft smile and tucked a piece of my h/c behind my ear.

And then the music stopped and everybody left to go to nearby shops. I flattened my dress and ran my fingers through my hair. Alex adjusted his suit and linked my arm up with his once more, guiding me back the way we came.

"So, where to next, Mr. Hamilton?" I joked.

"Now, Miss. Owens, we are off to the milliners!"


	3. Futures Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here's Chapter 3 for yah! Also if you ship Lams, take a look at my story 'Helpless'! Enjoy!
> 
> !!Major Trigger Warning!!! (Death & Suicide)

Isabelle's POV

"What is taking her so long?!" Mom yelled, pacing around the kitchen. "She was supposed to be home thirty minutes ago!"

I was getting worried too. Y/N would sometimes get too carried away with her music and wouldn't pay attention to her surroundings. We would always tell her not to listen to music while she walks because of that.

I shifted the table cloth slightly, biting my lip nervously. Guests would be arriving at any moment and not only were we missing a cake, but we were also missing a birthday girl!

Suddenly mom gasped and put the phone to her ear. We had been trying to call Y/N for the past thirty minutes but she hadn't been picking up. I ran over to try and hear.

"Is this the mother of Y/N L/N?"

"Yes," mom said confusedly.

"Hi, this is St. Lin's Hospital. I'm sorry to inform you that your daughter was hit by a drunk driver and is in critical condition and isn't expected to make it. You will need to hurry here if you would like to say your goodbyes."

No— no, this can't be happening. Not Y/N. Not my sister. She can't leave me! She can't die!

Mom dropped the phone in school and we ran out of the front door, both shaking with sobs. We tried to hop in the car, but we were stopped by our neighbor Jacob.

"Move!" I sobbed at him, pushing him slightly. He stood firm and grabbed the keys from my Mom.

"Hey! I'm not letting you drive in that state. You'd get in a wreck like that!" he stated, moving to sit in the driver's seat. "I'll drive."

Mom and I rushed into the car and started yelling at him to drive. I felt kind of bad because Jacob has always been like a brother to Y/N and me, but I knew that he would understand.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly, speeding towards the hospital, which was luckily nearby.

"Y/N was hit by a drunk driver," I sobbed, from the backseat. "She's not going to make it."

Jacob gasped and hurriedly wiped his eyes, speeding up slightly. Y/N, Jacob, and I have always been very close friends since we were little.

Somehow we made it to the ER without getting pulled over. We sprinted to the front desk, startling the poor lady working there.

"How may I--"

"Y/N L/N! Were here for Y/N L/N!" The lady's eyes went wide and she led us quickly to a room down the hall.

I dashed inside and I saw her laying there hopelessly. Her h/c hair was bloodied at matted around her head and her body looked disfigured.

"N-No!" I cried, running over and grabbing one of her hand gently in mine. "Y/N please, you c-can't leave me! W-We were supposed t-to go to college together a-and and become adults! We were g-gonna start our own f-families and make a future for ourselves!"

Jacob came up behind me and rubbed my back comfortingly, crying tears of his own.

"Please don't leave me!" I sobbed, "I c-can't live without you! Y-You're my other h-half!" Suddenly the beeping of her heart monitor slowed into a whine. She was gone.

"NO! GOD NO! PLEASE NO!" I cried reaching for her desperately, only to be held back by Jacob. The doctors came in with solemn looks on their faces and covered Y/N with a white sheet before wheeling her away. My mom went with them, face pale with shock.

"No!" I wailed, collapsing into Jacob's arms with sobs, punching him repeatedly on the back. He just held me, patiently waiting for me to stop.

Eventually, he took us home, asking us if we needed anything. We declined, feeling too numb to really want anything other than for Y/N to be here with us.

Mom went straight to her room without saying a word. I did the same, walking into Y/N and I's shared room. Her stuff was everywhere. Clothes, bed, books, drawing, pictures. It was too much.

I went into our bathroom and grabbed my bottle of ADHD medication before taking a seat on her bed with a photo of her smiling up at me.

I downed what was left in the bottle, taking comfort in the fuzzy feeling it left in my head. The last thing I saw was Jacob bursting into the room with his pillow and blanket, obviously intending to stay the night with me.

"Isabelle I brought— NO!"

My eyes closed and I smiled softly. I was going to be with Y/N.

——————

Y/N's POV

"Are you sure we got everything?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, Alex," I smiled, rolling my eyes amusedly. Today had been a great day so far. We got me a dress and shoes, plus all of the other small things that I needed. We even got to dance in the square.

He shoulder bumped me slightly with a smile and I bumped him back, getting a few looks from some passerby's. We were walking back to the house and it was already nearing sundown.

"What is that?" Alex gasped, looking off to the side. I turned and saw a figure lying on the dirt road, much like I had been the day before.

"Isabelle?!" I gasped, running to her side and shaking her awake frantically.  
"What are you doing here—"

"Y/N?!" She gasped, tackling me to the ground in tears. "You d-died! You w-were gone! Y-You were hit by a drunk d-driver and you were brought to the ER and you d-died! How are you alive?!"

"I know, I know, shh," I said hugging her close, wiping her eyes.

"Where are we?" she stammered, finally taking a look around.

"We're in the past," I explained, "Around the time the song 'Aaron Burr, sir' took place." She smiled and looked around wondrously.

"We're living in a musical!" she smiled.

"I'm sorry," said a voice from behind us, "I'm confused. ER, died, past, musical?"

Crap. I forgot about Alex.

"Isabelle, I would like you to meet Alexander Hamilton. Alex I would like you to meet Isabelle, my twin sister."


	4. Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Can I just say that Y/N and Isabelle are both based on me. I've died twice already in this story... Anyways, enjoy!

Y/N's POV

After we found Isabelle, Alex rushed us off to the house nervously. We took a seat on the couch, the air thick with tension.

"Isabelle and I are from the year 2020," I whispered quietly. Alex sat back, letting out a long breath of air in shock. "That's why I was confused when you found me."

"Do you have some sort of proof? I'm sorry, it's just that this is such an odd situation," he said, looking around nervously.

"When you were ten years old, your father left," Isabelle said softly, "You and your mother got deathly sick when you were twelve and she died. Then you moved in with your cousin, but he committed suicide. A hurricane destroyed your town when you were seventeen and then you moved to America."

I could tell that she was struggling not to just start singing 'Alexander Hamilton' right then and there, which is exactly what I would've done had I been left to explain.

"Wow," he breathed, running a hand through his hair. "So your not from Spain?" Leave it to Alex to ask about that before anything else.

"No (or yes, if you are)," I laughed, "I'm from Y/C (you're country)."

"How did you get here?" He asked, calming down slightly, though definitely still weirded out.

"I umm... died," I stammered, squeezing Isabelle's hand. "Speaking of which, how did you get here?" I asked her.

"Well you see, I got in a car crash," she frowned, not meeting my eyes. I brushed it off, knowing that she was probably still in shock.

"What's a car?" Alex asked curiously, leaning forward in his seat.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," I answered, pulling Isabelle to her feet and standing her in front of Alex. She was wearing her long yellow sundress, still dressed for our birthday party. "Does this dress look too different?"

"Well luckily it's very loose," he stated, examining the dress. "We could probably find a petticoat to put under it and then just say that's it's homemade if anyone asks about the style."

Izze let out a sigh of relief, straightening out her dress. It was her favorite piece of clothing and looked absolutely beautiful on her, complementing her s/c (skin color) skin and h/c hair perfectly.

"We could probably find one at Mulligan's!" he smiled, jumping up and leading us outside the house.

We followed him into town until he randomly stopped, staring at a man just up ahead. A smile broke out on his face and he dashed over to the man excitedly. "Pardon me, are you Aaron Burr, sir?"

Isabelle and I shared a knowing look, smiling with anticipation.

"That depends. Who's asking?" said Burr, turning around to face the excited teen in from if him.

"Oh, well sure, sir. I'm Alexander Hamilton, I'm at your service, sir. I have been looking for you!" We laughed slightly at Alex, watching him creep Burr out.

"I'm getting nervous," Burr frowned, taking a small step back.

"Sir, I heard your name at Princeton! I was seeking an accelerated course of study when I got sort of out of sorts with a buddy of yours. I may have punched him... it's a blur, sir. He handles the financials!"

"You punched the bursar?"

"Yes! I wanted to do what you did, graduate in two years then join the revolution! He looked at me like I was stupid. I'm not stupid!" Burr gave him a doubtful look, but Alex continued.

"So, how'd you do it? How'd you graduate so fast?"

"It was my parents dying wish before they passed," Burr frowned.

"You're an orphan! Of course! I'm an orphan! God, I wish there was a war then we could prove that we're worth more than anyone bargained for!" Alex smiled, earning himself another weird look from Burr.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Burr asked cautiously.

"That would be nice," Alex smiled, "Oh! Wait one second!" He dashed over to us apologetically.

"Gee, thanks for remembering us, Alex!" Izze said sarcastically. Alex rolled his eyes at her playfully before turning to me.

"Do you remember how to get to Mulligans?" he asked.

"Yep!" I smiled, pointing down the road. "It's just a couple minutes that way."

"Okay good!" he smiled, "Is it okay if I go with Mr. Burr?"

"Go ahead! And make some friends while you're at it!" Izze smirked knowingly. "We should be at the house when you get back."

"Okay, bye!" he smiled, rushing back off to Burr. We laughed, knowing that he was about to meet Laurens, Lafayette, and Hercules.

We set back off down the road, towards Mulligans. When we arrived, we stepped inside happily while Izze looked around curiously.

"Hello, ma'am!" Mr. Mulligan greeted kissing my knuckles before doing the same for Izze. "How may I help you two?"

"We need a petticoat to fit my dress, please sir," Izze smiled politely. Mr. Mulligan walked over to the wall and pulled a medium-sized petticoat off of the wall.

"Here you go, Miss," he said, handing it to her. "You could go change in the backroom if you'd like to. Hercules left to go hang out with some friends as soon as his shift was over."

She went into the backroom to change and came back a few with her dress looking poofier. "That will be $0.50," Mr. Mulligan beamed.

That was when I realized that Alex left us without any money. "He forgot to give us money," I said to Izze with wide eyes.

"We can pay for it!" smiled a lady from behind us, almost giving me a heart attack. I never even heard her enter the store.

"Oh no, you don't have to," Izze frowned.

"I insist," she beamed, handing Mr. Mulligan the required money. She turned back to us, adjusting her light blue dress happily. "My name's Eliza."

My face broke into a smile, and Izze and I introduced myself. Eliza handled whatever it was that she came to the shop for and the grabbed our hands, leading us outside.

"These are my sisters Angelica and Peggy," she said, introducing us to the two girls standing there. I smiled, song lyrics popping into my head.

Angelica   
Eliza   
And Peggy  
The Schuyler sisters

Angelica and Peggy introduced themselves, walking us down the road. "Do you anywhere you have to be right now?" Peggy asked excitedly and we shook our heads. "Great! How do y'all feel about going with us to The Orchard?"


	5. Apples And What's To Come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I literally was so tired when I wrote this so forgive me if it's trash. Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

"How do y'all feel about going with us to The Orchard?" Peggy asked with a smile.

Izze and I shared a look, both of us ridiculously excited. We were about to spend the day with THE SCHUYLER SISTERS! "Sure!" I smiled, turning back to the sisters.

"Great!" Peggy cheered, grabbing our hands and pulling us off down the road.

"Peggy, slow down!" Angelica said, running slightly to catch up with us. Peggy stopped, sticking out her bottom lip in a small pout.

"So, where are y'all from?" Eliza asked.

"We live downtown, over that way," I chirped, pointing in the direction of Alex's house. "You should come visit someday!"

Izze shuffled her feet uncomfortably. She's a hardcore Lams shipper, so Hamliza's kind of odd to her. I gave her a slight look, reminding her that we needed to try our best not to change history. Lams would happen on its own.

"I wish we could," Peggy frowned, "but our father won't let us go downtown."

"Well I'm going," Eliza smirked, giving Peggy a slight look. The younger girl's eyes lit up with mischief and she gained a slight skip in her step.

Eventually, they came around a small orchard full of apple trees. They were scattered around everywhere, decorating the orchard in all shades of red.

"Here we are!" Angelica beamed, leading them inside.

"It's beautiful," I breathed, looking around in wonder. The sun was falling beautifully onto the trees, highlighting the grass through the leaves.

"Let's play Manhunt!" Eliza suggested, running off in the opposite direction, closely followed by Peggy. Izze and I looked at Angelica in confusion.

"What's Manhunt?" Izze asked.

"It's simple! Everybody scatters around and one person goes around looking for them," Angelica laughed as if it were the most obvious thing on earth.

"So Hide and Seek?"

"Umm... sure," she said, shoving us in the direction her sisters went. "Now go hide!" We each ran off in different ways, while Angelica began to count.

Pretty soon I found myself in a small circle of trees, all surrounding one larger one in the middle. Its wood was chipping and it looked older than the others. Then I noticed some strange markings in the middle of the tree.

'Jeremy Cooper' was carved into the bark in ridged handwriting. My eyes widened as Jacob came into my mind. Jacob Cooper, Izze and I's best friend from across the street. Could it be possible that this carving was left by his ancestor?

I grazed my fingers gently against the damaged wood, committing the carving to memory.

"Found you!" Angelica yelled from behind me, smiling triumphantly. I turned around with a pout, joining her in looking for the others.

We found Peggy first when she dashed through the trees, trying to find a new hiding spot. Izze was next, she was hiding behind a tree and drawing in the dirt. We found Eliza last. She had somehow managed to climb one of the trees and was sitting in its branches comfortably, snacking on an apple.

After the game, we all laid down around one of the trees, staring up at the clouds. "Hey, Liza?" I asked, "Does anybody even own this orchard?"

"Yes, the Coopers have run this place for years. They leave it open for anybody to visit though, so long as no one damages anything."

I felt myself getting excited, wanting to tell Jacob what I'd figured out. Then I frowned, realizing that I would never be able to do that.

~~~~babytimeskip~~~~

By the time we got back home, it was dark out. Alex stood waiting for us in the kitchen with a worried look on his face. "Why were y'all out so late?" he asked us, crossing his arms grumpily.

"We met some friends and we went to The Orchard with them," Izze explained, rolling her eyes amusedly. Alex nodded before running a hand through his hair nervously.

"I have some bad news. I'll be leaving in two days' time to return to fighting in the war," he sighed.

"Two days?!" I exclaimed. Izze's mouth fell open in shock.

"I'm sorry! They just barely told us today! I promise that I'll write to you both every day, but I have to go."

"You'd better!" Izze huffed.

None of us spoke much for the rest of the night. We were all too nervous about what was to come. We knew that he would be fine but we still couldn't help but worry.

Later when Izze and I were lying in bed I got an idea. "Tomorrow we need to go back to Mulligans," I told her.

"What?"

"We need to go buy a uniform. I'm going to join the Revolution," I explained. (I'm sorry, I know it's cliche) She frowned at me concernedly, not seeming convinced.

"How are you going to pay for the uniform? And don't you think Alex will recognize you?" she questioned.

"I might just have to steal the money," I frowned, "However he won't recognize me. I just need to cut my hair and bind my chest. I'll try my best to avoid him anyways."

"Y/N, I just got you back and now you're going to leave again?" she whimpered, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I could go with you!"

"No Izze. I need you to stay here or people will start becoming suspicious.  
We need to take advantage of the fact that we look identical, okay? You can visit the Schuyler sisters as both of us, so long as you visit more than once. I'm also going to need you to send me any letters he writes me so that I can respond to them," I sighed, wiping away her tears.

She nodded sadly before hugging me. "Why do you have to go?" she whispered.

"Obviously, I know that he's going to be fine— I just have this feeling. I need to go with him and make sure that he'll be okay. I'll come back, okay? I'll be fine," I told her, hugging her tightly.

We didn't sleep very well that night, both of our minds too anxious about tomorrow.


	6. I'm Elijah Truman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! In case you haven't already, please go check out my Lams story 'Helpless'!

Y/N's POV

Izze and I were awake before the sun had even risen the next morning. "Do you think he's up yet?" Izze asked worriedly.

"Hopefully not," I sighed, quickly throwing on my dress and stepping outside of the room. My sister followed me quietly, both of us careful to make as little noise as possible.

"Where do you think he keeps his money?" I whispered to her.

"Probably in his room."

We snuck down the hall to the makeshift room Alex made for himself after our arrival. I pushed the door open slowly, wincing at the loud creak it gave off. My eyes widened as Alex turned onto his side to face me. He was definitely awake.

"What are you doing?" he yawned, giving me a confused look. His hair was down for once, falling around his face messily. He looked exhausted, to say the least.

"I— uh," I stuttered, scanning the room for money. There it was, sitting just a few feet away in a small box by the door. "I just w-wanted to tell you that Izze and I are going to meet the Schuylers uptown."

He nodded tiredly, letting his eyes close again. I took the opportunity to reach down and grab a dollar's worth of money before stepping out of his room, closing the door softly behind me.

"Did you get it?" Izze whispered, fidgeting slightly with the sleeve of her dress.

"Yep!" I smiled, tucking the money under my sleeve. She jumped excitedly, rushing off towards the front door. I chuckled softly at her eagerness, following her outside.

By the time we made it uptown, the sun was up and shining brightly. We hurriedly made our way over to Mulligans, both of us humming 'Dear Theodosia' under our breath. Mr. Mulligan approached us as soon as we entered the shop.

"How may I help you two?" he smiled, kissing us both on our knuckles softly.

"Our friend Alex needs a new uniform," Izze lied, flashing him a bright smile. "His old one is far too battered to be of any use."

"Then it's a good thing I have a few extras!" Mr. Mulligan beamed, "I'm assuming he needs one of the smaller ones, right?"

I nodded eagerly and he handed me a blue uniform from behind the counter in exchange for the stolen money. Izze and I shared a triumphant look and we exited the shop with a quick 'goodbye'.

"I'm pretty sure Alex is out with Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette right now," I muttered, leading her in the direction of his house.

Sure enough, I was right. As soon as we stepped inside the empty house we went straight into our room and placed the uniform under a loose floorboard.

"Well," Izze sighed, taking a seat on the bed. "What now?"

"Now I need a backstory," I groaned, "I can't just go around as Y/N Owens in a camp full of men."

"Elijah. You should call yourself Elijah," Izze smiled, "I've always liked that name."

"Elijah... Truman!" I chirped, causing us both to dissolve in giggles. I stood in front of her and dramatically and kissed her knuckles. "My name is Truman. Elijah Truman. Nice to meet you!"

"Where might you be from, Mr. Truman?" she giggled.

"I'm an... orphan! From Georgia!" I improvised, only making her laugh harder.

"Please don't sound so happy when you say that to your fellow soldiers," she chuckled.

"Like Alex was in 'Aaron Burr, sir'?"

"Exactly like Alex," she groaned laying back on the bed with a small smile. We laid there for a while in silence, both of us slowly growing anxious about the situation. "What are you going to use to bind your chest?"

"There's some scrap cloth laying behind the sofa," I told her, "That's probably my best option."

We went and grabbed some of the cloth before heading back into our room where I practiced wrapping myself. It definitely wasn't a fun experience.

But then again, I wasn't sure any of this would be a 'fun experience'.

—————timeskip——————

"Come back home safe!" Izze yelled, wiping a tear from her eye as we waved goodbye to Alex from the front porch.

"I will!" he promised, turning away and running off towards the gathering of soldiers across town. They would all be leaving soon.

As soon as Alex was out of sight, Izze and I rushed inside and into our room. I pulled off my dress and corset while Izze grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

She grabbed a section of my h/c hair in her hands after having me take a seat on the bed. I took a deep breath and signaled for her to do it. She moved the knife swiftly and I watched my h/c locks fall to the floor. She continued this all the way around until my hair sat neatly on my shoulders.

I let out a breath I had been holding and tired my hair back using a piece of the shirt I arrived here in. My sister pulled the loose floorboard open and handed me the blue uniform with tears in her eyes. I threw it on quickly before pulling her into a hug, letting her cry onto my shoulder.

"I swear to freakin Lin-Manuel Miranda that if you die again, I'm going to freakin revive you so that I can kill you myself!" she sobbed.

I chuckled lightly, rubbing her back like mom used to do for us. "I promise, I'll come back to you," I said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

I turned away from her and looked at myself in the mirror. I definitely still looked feminine, but not too much. "Elijah Truman," I said firmly, "My name is Elijah Truman."

I turned back to Izze and gave her one final hug before rushing out of the house to join the crowd of soldiers on the other side of town. "BE SAFE!" yelled a voice from behind me. I turned around and gave my sister a tearful wave goodbye.

When I arrived in the square I pushed my way through the crowd to the man with standing on a podium with a sheet of parchment and a quill. "Name?" he said gruffly.

"My name is Elijah Truman, sir!" I said confidently. This was definitely going to be an interesting experience.


	7. Camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I actually did my research for this! Not very well though, cause I can't focus for crap, but I tried. Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I underestimated the athleticism of soldiers. Or maybe I just overestimated myself.

Almost immediately after I gave the grumpy man with the list my name, this one soldier dude with a funky hat yelled, "MOVE OUT!". We walked from until sunrise the next day, heading away from the city. Away from my sister.

I've never considered myself an athlete, but I never thought I was in bad shape. Let's just say that while walking with these men, my opinion was changed just as quickly as my breathing.

I was dripping sweat after the first hour. It was rather hot out due to it being midsummer, and our uniforms weren't exactly light and thin. Just the feeling of the heavy material sticking to my sweaty back made me want to smack whoever made it. Sorry, Herc.

I realized pretty soon after we began moving that I was stood out from the group. Figuratively and literally. All of the soldiers stood in rows, like squares on a grid. I, however, stood awkwardly off to the side of the group not knowing what to do.

One of the men closest to me shot me a disapproving glare, glancing at the empty space in front of him, trying to tell me something. For a moment I just looked at him oddly, extremely confused.

Then my eyes widened and my face flushed with embarrassment as I quickly scurried into my place in the grid of men. I shot the man a thankful look. He glared at me some more.

By the time we arrived at the camp the next morning, I felt like dropping to my knees and kissing the floor like they do in the movies. I probably would have too, but my throbbing legs and wheezing lungs said not to.

I looked around at the flimsy looking tents scattered around the clearing.  
Each one was randomly placed, yet they all shared one thing in common. They all faced the center of the clearing where two large tents sat.  
One for the general and one for the wounded, I assumed.

"Listen up!" yelled FunkyHatDude, turning to face us. "I want three men in each tent! Y'all are to be outside and ready to begin your training in one hour! Understood?!"

"YES, SIR!" The men responded. Men meaning not me. I just nodded. I considered giving a feeble 'Yes sir!' of my own to echo them, but I didn't think that they would appreciate my humor.

FunkyHatDude gave us one final glare before stomping off to one of the large tents in the center of the camp. As soon as he was out of sight, everybody paired up and claimed their tents, and, unsurprisingly, nobody paired up with me.

I huffed and kicked around some dirt with my foot. I could technically just barge into a random tent and camp there without violating FunkyHatDudes 'three men per tent' rule.

"Hey!" came a voice from behind me, pulling me from my thoughts. A man who looked about my age stood by a tent in the shade, waving me over. "We have room for one more," he smiled.

I rushed over to him, stepping inside with a quick 'Thank you'. There was a small cot against each wall of the tent and none of them looked any more comfortable than Goodwills cheapest dog beds. Not to mention the fact that Mr. Get-In-The-Grid was sitting on the cot to the far right.

I took a seat on the one farthest from him. "I'm Y/N," I said to the man who waved me over.

"Y/N?" he laughed, quirking an eyebrow in surprise.

Crap. I've only just begun and I've already messed up.

"I-It's my middle name," I said, laughing nervously. "Elijah Y/N Truman's my full name." I winced at how terrible that sounded.

Mr. Get-In-The-Grid snorted from his cot, making me flush with embarrassment.

"Ignore him," said the only nice boy in the tent. "I'm Jeremy Cooper."

Now that piqued my interest.

"Your family wouldn't happen to own The Orchard, would they?" I asked, feeling the excitement bubble up in my chest.

"That's us! Have you ever been there?" he smiled.

Come to think of it, he does look a little bit like Jacob. They share the same light blue eyes and light brown hair.

"Yes actually! I was there just a few days ago with some friends of mine. It's a beautiful place!"

His smile widened and pretty soon we were having a majestic conversation about how amazing trees are. That's not what made it majestic though. What made it majestic was the game we made out of it. I called it 'How annoyed could we possibly make Mr. Get-In-The-Grid?'.

"And the branches— oh my! They're absolutely glorious!" I gasped dramatically.

"You would not believe how amazing the apples taste!" Jeremy sighed, falling onto his cot with a theatrical sigh.

"And the way the sunlight falls through the leaves!"

"You should see it at sunset!"

"Have you seen—"

"BE QUIET!" Mr. Get-In-The-Grid growled from his cot. Jeremy and I shared a triumphant look, stifling our laughter.

Eventually, we managed to get to sleep, not that it lasted long. Pretty soon we were awoken by the sound of men moving around outside.

I stood up tiredly and slipped on my shoes, remembering that I actually had to exercise as a soldier. Exercise and I don't get along.

When I finally made my way outside, everybody was gathered around FunkyHatDude again. He stood in the middle of the crowd with a barrel of guns.

"Today we're practicing Drill & Ceremony! Everybody grab a gun and get in your ranks!" he ordered.

"YES, SIR!"

Naturally, I forgot to yell my response again and nodded instead. "Umm... what's my rank?" I said to Jeremy, trying to keep my voice down.

"You're a Private," he laughed pushing me to the back of the gridlike shape we were all forming. Everybody was getting their guns ready, so I copied Jeremy who was standing next to me in the grid.

I heard the gun click and I jumped slightly. Calm down, I told myself, a soldier can't be afraid of guns.

"ATTENTION!" FunkyHatDude hollered. The men in the front held their guns at the ready. "SHOOT!" My ears rang at the sound of the guns going off.

They fell to their knees and the men directly behind them got ready. "SHOOT!" Another deafening bang and they fell to their feet, the men behind them getting ready.

"SHOOT!" The cycle continued on through the ranks, getting closer and closer to me. I took a deep breath as the men directly in front of me made their shots.

All you have to do is pull the trigger and fire into the air, I told myself. They dropped to their knees and I held my gun at the ready. Just pull the trigger. "SHOOT!" Just one shot. I pressed down, snapping my eyes shut as a loud bang rang out.

Every man stood up and the process repeated. We practiced it three times, and each time it became easier to do.

Eventually, FunkyHatDude had us put away our guns and circle back around him. I was smiling goofily, feeling confident, and definitely less scared.

"Many of you are using the incorrect form!" FunkyHatDude critiqued, "This may have seemed easy today, firing into the air. Remember though, it's a lot more difficult when you're aiming at another human."

I was ready this time when we all answered with a loud, "YES SIR!".

He glared harshly at us before leaving to his tent for the night. We all did the same, eager to finish catching up on our missed sleep.

As I was lying in my cot, listening to Jeremy and Mr. Get-In-The-Grid snore softly, FunkyHatDudes words finally hit me. Would I be able to shoot at another human, or would I freeze up and get shot?


	8. Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this took so long, but I was in crazy writer mode for one of my other stories. Anyway, enjoy!

Y/N's POV

I was awoken at an unholy hour to the sound of a young boy stepping into our tent. "I'm here with the post!" he said. I stood up groggily and made my way over to him. "Name?" he asked.

"Elijah Truman." Hah! I remembered this time.

He shuffled around in his bag for a moment before handing me two pieces of parchment. "Thank you!" I smiled, sitting back down on my cot while Jeremy and Mr. Get-In-The-Grid stood to get their letters.

The first of the letters was written with poor handwriting and had ink blotches all over. I immediately knew it was from Izze.

Dear Elijah Truman,

So, I did what you told me to do. Alex wrote you a letter and I placed it with this one. Hopefully, that should be enough to keep him from getting suspicious.

The Schuyler Sisters are an entirely different story though. I ran into them in town today and they asked where you were. I told them that you were sick.

Peggy's just going with it. She's not questioning it and she's not acting suspicious at all. Elizas worried about you. She told me to tell you to get well soon. However, I think that Angelicas onto us. She just seemed very skeptical, as if she wasn't convinced at all.

We both know that my lying skills aren't lacking. Remember when I convinced them entire eight grade that my name was Sunny and that Jacob and I were twins? Some people still believe that. Angelicas just a freaking lie detector.

I'm thinking about getting a job in the city if possible. I'm thinking laundress or seamstress. What do you think? Anyways, stay safe, please. I really don't feel like resurrecting you so that I can kill you myself if you get shot.

Love yah sis! -Izze

I smiled and opened up the other letter. This one was written in loopy cursive. Alex definitely wrote it.

'My dearest Y/N Owens,

Are you doing well? Please exercise caution in the city. I know that you and your sister may default to the typical behavior of your time, but please try to be observant and adapt to the culture of this time.

How are you two spending your days? It's tiring work out here in the camps. We men are given little time to rest and are expected to perform well all day. I hope life is serving you well at home.

A. Ham'

I chuckled and tucked the letter under my pillow, grabbing my quill and ink out from my desk. I needed to hurry and respond to him so that I could get my letter to him today.

'Dear Alexander Hamilton,

We're doing well! I'll admit, it is kind of difficult to not burst into song at random moments. Let's just say that music in the future is very different than the music well... here.

I think that I'm adapting though. I don't freak out as much when somebody goes to kiss my hand and it becomes easier and easier to put on a corset each day.

We've been going on walks into town a lot lately along with visits to The Orchard. It's a beautiful place to visit, in case you've never been there before.

I'm sure that working as a soldier is very difficult. I can almost imagine how tired you must be and how much endurance you must have. I can't imagine the generals being too kind either.

Please stay safe! -Y/N'

I quickly folded up the letter and placed it in one of my many pockets before writing to my twin.

'Dear Isabelle Owens,

I'm betting you're probably crawling in your skin from boredom right now. I miss being able to rap Guns and Ships at the top of our lungs in the car with the windows down and the radio blasting. Or running across the street and pouring a water bottle on Jacob's face to wake him up in the mornings.

I'm going to challenge you to do something to keep your semi entertained. I challenge you to keep track of each time a song lyric from the musical is proven. So 'I'm a tailors apprentice', 'Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy', and 'My name is Alexander Hamilton' for starters.

Other than that, I wouldn't worry too much about the sisters. I'm sure that Angelica won't figure anything out, and worse case scenario, say that I went missing. There's no way to disprove that.

If you want to get a job, then get a job. Just remember that doing the laundry isn't as easy back in this time as it is in the future. You'll have to clean clothes by hand. And if you become a seamstress, you'll have to make the clothes by hand too. You won't have the help of a sewing machine.

Try to enjoy this craziness! This isn't exactly what people would call your everyday experience after all!

I love you too! -Y/N'

I folded up the letter to Izze and grabbed the one to Alex before leaving the tent in search of the mail boy. I had to look for him for about thirty minutes before I finally found him hanging out near a tent on the other side of camp.

I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and he gave me an annoyed look. "In camp or out of camp?" he sighed.

"This one's in camp," I said handing him the letter to Alex. "And this one's out of—" I dropped the letter to my sister in shock at the sight of Alex standing at the mail boy's side.

He chuckled softly and picked it up. I quickly grabbed it from him and his smile turned into a glare as his eyes caught on my sister's name.

He sneered at me, taking a threatening step in my direction. "Who are you and why are you writing to Isabelle Owens?"


	9. Who Are You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know that this took a while, but I didn't want to give y'all a half-butt chapter so... yeah. I'm here now though! *awkwardly waves* Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

"Who are you and why are you writing to Isabelle Owens?" Alex sneered.

Uh oh. I froze, taking a nervous step back. How the crap do I answer that?! I racked my brain for an excuse, but I couldn't think of anything good to say. Finally, I whispered, "I'm a friend of hers. We met in the city a few days ago."

He gave me a doubtful look, reaching to snatch the paper from my hands. I held it out of his reach but not before he read a few words. His eyes went wide and he shot me a dark look. "Then why does it say 'I love you'?" he muttered darkly.

I winced. This definitely complicated things. "I'm, um... her boyfriend," I tried, cringing at my own words.

"Boyfriend?" Alex said, looking at me confused. Gosh, why does the past have to be so weird?

"I'm courting her?" I frowned, not entirely sure if that was the right term.

"You don't sound so sure about that," he pointed out.

"Well, it's a recent development!" I defended. He only glared darker, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me towards him. He leaned close to my ear and spoke in a threatening tone.

"Listen, kid, I don't like you. At all. And I don't like that your talking with Isabelle. I'm only going to warn you once that if you hurt her, you and I will be having some words," he said slowly.

I nodded fearfully, trying not to laugh. Oh Alex, if only you knew.

"What's taking you so long, Lex?" said a voice from a few feet away. I turned around to see the one and only John Motherfreaking Laurens. The fangirl in me was fighting to escape.

"Do you remember the girls I told you about?" Alex asked him. John nodded slowly, clearly confused. "Well, apparently this kid is courting Isabelle."

"And?"

"And that's not okay John!"

John laughed and walked over to me, holding out his hand for me to shake. "I'm John Laurens," he smiled.

I shook his hand nervously, trying not to scream song lyrics in his face. "Elijah Truman."

"I have some people I'd like you to meet!" he beamed, dragging me off towards their tent with a grumpy Alex not far behind. I barely had time to give my letter to the mail boy who gave me an exasperated look.

Inside the tent sat Hercules Mulligan and a tall dude with his curly hair tied back in a ponytail. "Je m'appelle Lafayette!" he smiled, shaking my hand eagerly.

"I'm Elijah Truman!" I beamed. I was in fangirl heaven. Now if only I could meet Madison, Jefferson, and Burr.

"I am Hercules Mulligan," Herc smiled, grabbing my hand in a firm grip. He was so strong that the handshake was kinda painful, but that was okay. I WAS SHAKING HERCULES MULLIGANS HAND!

Calm down Y/N, I told myself, you've gotta act like a dude.

"Cool," I said.

"Cool?" he frowned. I mentally facepalmed.

"Sorry, forget I said that. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasures all mine," he beamed. Alex walked past me to get to his cot, shoving me in the process. Ooh was I gonna smack this boy as soon as we got back home.

John, Laff, and Herc all frowned, glaring at him harshly. Alex returned the glare with twice the intensity. John rolled his eyes and pulled me outside the tent.

"I'm sorry about him," he frowned, "he's just being overprotective. From what he's told me, Y/N and Isabelle mean a lot to him. So, don't hurt her, okay?"

"I would never hurt her," I promised. John nodded to me solemnly before leading me back inside. I took a seat next to Herc where I felt the most comfortable,

"So... tell us a bit about you, mon ami," Laff smiled.

Well I'm a time traveler who's so Hamilton obsessed that I got myself ran over by a car, I thought.

"Well, I'm an orphan from Georgia," I muttered, placing a frown on my face. My acting skills were pretty darn good because I've acted out Hamilton in my mirror far too many times.

Alex looked up at that and I remembered that he's an orphan too. Or not 'too'. Ugh, I'm confuzzled.

"Well, I'm a tailors apprentice," Herc smiled. "I work near Alex's house, actually!"

"I'll have to go visit soon then!" I said as if I hadn't already been there many times before. This dude already had my measurements after all.

"I'm from France!" Laff shouted out of the blue, causing us all to laugh.

"I like turtles!" John piped up, pulling a small book out from under his pillow. He opened it to a random page and showed it to us. It was a beautifully drawn picture of a turtle. I was so proud.

Alex chose to stay quiet, laying down on his cot and turning away from us. The rest of us talked for hours until the sun finally began to rise. "I should probably go," I sighed, standing up to leave the tent.

"By mon ami!" Laff answered.

"Bye!" Herc shouted.

"See you later!" John smiled.

And of course, Alex said nothing.

I waved goodbye to them before heading back to my tent where Jeremy was waiting. "Hey, where did you go?" he asked, looking up from the letter he was writing.

"I met some friends," I smiled, sitting down next to him. We sat in silence for a while, and I watched the sunrise. Then I realized something. I didn't know what FunkyHatDude was supposed to be called.

"Hey, Jeremy?" I said slowly.

"Yes?" he answered.

"What's that loud dude with a weird hats name?" I asked, blushing at how ridiculous I sounded.

"Um... I think that you're talking about General Schuyler," he laughed. Oh, I thought, I like the name FunkyHatDude better.


	10. Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Who else is going crazy with boredom because of this quarantine? I definitely am. Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

Izze's POV

"Name?" said the annoyed mail boy, giving me a dry look. I rolled my eyes at him, returning the look.

"Isabelle Owens," I frowned. He shoved two pieces of parchment at me before stalking off down the road, leaving me alone on Alex's porch once more.

I hurried inside and took a seat on the couch, adjusting my yellow dress before opening the first letter. It was from Y/N. I read it quickly before opening the other, which was from Alex.

My dearest Isabelle Owens,

I would like to warn you about a Mr. Elijah Truman, who I heard has begun to court you. He appears to be a respectable enough lad, but something in me feels that he is not to be trusted. Please be careful around him and do not, under any circumstances, tell him about the future. We have no idea how that could possibly change things.

Other than that, try to enjoy your time in New York. I would love to learn more about those cars you spoke about on your first night here. Please stay safe.

A. Ham

He writes weird, I thought, slipping the letter into the folds of my dress. Then it hit me. Has begun to court you.

Oh my crap, what has Y/N done?! I buried my face in the stiff pillows of the couch in an attempt to stifle my giggles. If only Alex knew that 'Elijah' was Y/N. Boy would his opinion change quickly.

After a moment, I stood up from the couch and adjusted my dress, heading out of the front door and onto the New York City streets. Today I needed to get a job.

I'd been thinking a lot lately about what kind of things I'd like to do around the city. I wasn't entirely sure about being a seamstress or laundress. Heck, I wasn't very sure about any of the jobs I've considered.

As I walked through the streets I looked around at the many shops surrounding me, but I couldn't see myself working in any of them.

If somebody would've asked me the question "What do you want to do after college?" a month ago, I would've told them that I wanted to play Peggy Schuyler in Hamilton. That's not exactly an option anymore.

"Izze— or Y/N— or uh, Owens!" somebody from behind me shouted, causing me to freeze in my footsteps. I turned around to see the Schuyler sisters standing a few feet away from me.

"Hey!" I smiled, "It's Izze. I'm always in the yellow dress and Y/N's always in the blue one."

"Right, sorry," Eliza winced, leading me down the street. "So, what are you doing uptown?"

"I'm looking for a job," I frowned, laughing nervously.

"Ooh, what do you want to do?" Peggy asked.

Well, I want to walk around a stage in front of hundreds of people, pretending to be you and singing "AND PEGGY!" every few seconds, I thought.

"I don't know," I said.

"If you're interested," Angelica beamed, "We've been needing some people to help out around the house. Maybe you and Y/N could do that?"

That was perfect! I could be close to Schuyler sisters and have a job!

"I'd love to! But Y/N is still uh... sick," I tried, fidgeting with the hem of my dress.

"Has she been seen by a doctor yet?" Angelica frowned, giving me a suspicious look. I shook my head slowly, not entirely sure what to say.

"Maybe we should have our family's doctor take a look at her," Eliza muttered, looking to Peggy who nodded in agreement.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that!" I protested, trying not to panic. "At least wait a little bit longer! I'm sure whatever sickness she has will pass soon."

Angelica quirked a brow at my top quick answer. "Okay then," she frowned, "But if she's still sick in a month, I want her to be seen by a doctor. She could have a serious illness for all we know."

"Of course!" I nodded, panicking internally.

What was I supposed to do in a month when Y/N was still gone. I couldn't just be like 'Hey, I know you're at war and all that jazz, but I need you to say hi to Angelica real quick so that she doesn't smack me like she smacked Jefferson that one time' you know?

Ugh, I was going to have to pretend to be my sister at some point. That would be a super fun experience! (Note the sarcasm)

"You should come and see our house!" Peggy chirped, pulling me off down the road. Angelica and Eliza followed behind us until we finally made it to a large, mansion-like building.

"Woah," I breathed, looking up at it in awe. "What the heck I gotta do to have a house like this?"

"Cmon!" Eliza smiled, leading me through the large front doors.

Everything in this place was nice and elegant looking, unlike me. Even the Schuyler sisters stood regally in the hall with good posture, looking as if they belonged there. I was kind of just that tired teenager who was dragged to a place without AC and who really just wanted to take a warm bath. Let's just say I was definitely slouching.

They spent the next couple of hours giving me a tour of their home. Peggy tried showing me every cool or impressing thing around, which was just about everything. Angelica kept trying to tell me a bunch of facts about said artifacts. Eliza just wanted to show me her favorite keepsakes.

By the time I made it back to Alex's house, I was overwhelmed and exhausted. On the bright side, I now have a job. On the not so bright side, I now needed to try and keep a suspicious Angelica satisfied, and we all know how that goes.

I sat down on the couch with a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write.

'Dear Elijah Truman,

Guess who's working in the Schuylers house! This gal!'


	11. Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I swear that I've been living off of Hot Pockets, coffee, and ice cream sandwiches. Let's just say, I'm not exactly what one would call 'healthy'. Anyways... *ominous fangirl drumroll* Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

I was shaken awake from my dream of teaching Alex how to build a car by a boy with curly hair. "Cmon," he whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me out from my cot.

"John?" I gasped, looking around confusedly. It was still dark out and very few soldiers were awake yet.

"Shh," he nodded, gesturing at Jeremy and Mr. Get-In-The-Grid who were both still asleep.

"Look, John," I whispered tiredly, "You're adorable but I'm exhausted and I wanna go back to sleep."

"Nope," he laughed, pulling me outside. "I want to show you something!"

"What could you possibly want to show me this early in the morning?!"

"It's a surprise," he smirked. I rolled my eyes and followed him through the camp, laughing at the occasional loud snore coming from one of the tents.

A few minutes later, he took a sharp left, leading me into the woods. "Uh, John?" I stammered, stepping over a fallen branch. "Where are we going?"

"Well," he smiled, "I have this special place that I want to show you. Herc, Laff, and Alex are already there. Trust me, you're going to love it." He trudged through the trees, pushing aside leaves and branches every couple of seconds. He seemed to the route to this 'special place' by heart.

Eventually, after what felt like an hour of getting smacked in the face with branches, we arrived at a small clearing. "Wow," I breathed, looking around in awe. There were flowers of all colors surrounding the clearing on all sides and the leaves of the trees formed a perfect dome above our heads.

Herc, Laff, and Alex sat on the grass in the center, chatting quietly. John laughed at my awed expression, pulling me off towards the boys.

"What took you so long?" Laff chuckled as we sat down next to them.

"Somebody didn't want to get out of bed," John smiled, shooting me a meaningful look.

"I'm my defense, I never want to get out of bed," I scoffed, causing us all to laugh. Except for Alex of course.

"This place is beautiful!" I sighed, looking around once again. "How did y'all find it?"

"Well," Herc beamed, eyes sparkling with mirth, "A couple of years ago, Laff and I were hanging out near the general's tent, completely wasted. John was called in to speak with the general and he saw us stumbling around outside. Then, apparently, I screamed 'I am Hercules Mulligan!' super loud and Laff started rhyming in French at an insane speed.

"Needless to say, John had to sneak away from the general to try and get us to be quiet, but we still wouldn't shut up. So, he tried to get us as far away from camp as he could without getting lost and we ended up here!" he smiled, gesturing around dramatically.

"That's not the end of the story, mon ami," Laff smirked.

"Oh yeah!" John laughed, "These two, being the supportive friends they are, ended up convincing me to down a bottle with them. We spent the rest of that day here, screaming random things drunkenly."

"Why am I not surprised?" I sighed, shaking my head at them playfully.

We talked for hours until the sun began to rise before heading our separate ways to train. Each day that week, John woke me up before sunrise and dragged me off to the clearing to meet up with the rest of the group. At this point, I was officially a part of the Revolutionary Crew.

And, naturally, Alex only began to hate me more and more.

I kind of felt bad, but at the same time, I really didn't. It was hard to feel bad for Alex when he was acting like a complete butthole. He didn't deserve to have somebody as amazing as Lin-Manuel Miranda play him. Lin was too precious for that.

Jeremy was helping me to train every morning. He would set up a makeshift target and give me advice on how to handle a gun. He was an amazing teacher and really helped me to get better at aiming. Even still I was a terrible shot.

There was something about the sound of the gun going off that made me tense up and freeze. That deafening bang could be heard from miles away. It terrified me.

Back in 2020, my father was a soldier who fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He was killed in battle when Isabelle and I were seven.

Each time I heard the gun go off, I thought of how he must have felt when the enemy aimed at him. He must've been so scared.

Jeremy helped me to get my aim as accurate as possible. Eventually, I was hitting the target each time I pulled the trigger. Granted, I definitely wasn't hitting the bullseye, but at least I wasn't shooting the nearby trees anymore.

"Why are you helping me?" I would ask him, watching as he showed me how to reload faster.

"I've been fighting in this war for the past two years and I'm not going to lie, it's terrifying. At this point, I just wanna survive," Jeremy sighed, "You deserve to have an equal chance."

"Hey, Jeremy?"

"Yes?"

"As soon as this war is over, I have somebody I'd like you to meet," I smiled.

After training, we would go back to our tent to annoy Mr. Get-In-The-Grid, who I soon figured out, was actually named Robert Davis. Yeah... he didn't like us. At all.

I spent my nights writing to Izze and Alex, telling my sister about life at the camp and telling Alex about how great things were at home. I made sure to mention how I thought that this 'Elijah Truman' guy seemed to be pretty darn great. Yeah, he didn't like that.

Time flew by quickly and we managed to make it to the end of the month without a single battle. Unfortunately, that didn't last.


	12. Sounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for my small leave of absence. Anyways, enjoy!

Y/N's POV (1 month later)

This time, I was awake before John even snuck into my tent. Not that I was doing much besides looking around tiredly. Boy, did I miss caffeine.

Eventually, I heard the tent flap rustle and saw John peek inside. "Let's go," he whispered. I looked at him blankly, not wanting to move.

"Get up, Eli," he whined.

'Make me,' I mouthed, glaring playfully. I crossed my arms and yawned widely, only making him smirk at me.

"Fine then," he snickered, walking over to my cot. I covered my face with my pillow and John sighed dramatically.

Then he did something that made me want to smack and hug him at the same time. He lifted me up from my cot and slung me over his shoulder. I dropped my pillow in surprise, punching his back weakly.

"Laurens!" I squeaked. Very manly.

He ignored me, chuckling softly as he carried me through the camp. Needless to say, we got a couple of odd looks from the other soldiers. Normally, I would've squirmed until he dropped me... but I was too lazy. Who was I to argue against free transportation?

Pretty soon we were back in the clearing with the rest of the crew. John set me down next to Herc and I brushed myself off, looking around innocently. "What?" I smiled.

Laff and Herc shared an amused look while John adjusted his uniform. Alex glared at me darkly as if I had personally offended him. I returned the look.

"Oh!" Herc gasped, jumping up excitedly. "I was hanging out near the horses and I overheard General Schuyler talking to his second in command. He said that if the war drags on like this, then we might be released back home soon! I can go see my son!"

"You have a son?!" Laff and I exclaimed, looking to him with wide eyes.

"Yep!" Herc smiled proudly, causing Laff and me to frown. I had a feeling we were both mourning Mullette.

"And his names John!" John beamed, "He's adorable, like me."

"No arguments there," I muttered softly under my breath.

That's when I heard it. The quiet sound of hooves moving quickly through the woods.

The boys heard it too. We all shot up, moving towards the noise with wide eyes. Alex ushered us behind a nearby bush and we peeked through the leaves, panicking slightly at the sight of redcoats.

They traveled in a line, the majority of the men on horseback. A man with a funky looking hat on was at the front of the line, giving orders to his soldiers. "WE ATTACK NEAR SUNSET!" EvilFunkyHatDude shouted, scanning the area around him carefully.

Herc pulled us a safe distance away and we sat in silence. "Those redcoats don't want it with me," John growled, "cause I will—"

"We have to tell the general," I interrupted, trying not to laugh. They nodded in response and we ran off towards the camp in search of FunkyHatDude.

By the time we made it back, men were walking around, getting ready for training. We weaved through them until we arrived at General Schuylers tent.

"The British are nearby!" Alex shouted, stepping inside with the rest of us right behind him. FunkyHatDude jumped up, pushing aside his chair.

"Are you absolutely certain?" he frowned, grabbing his gun. I was impressed. I didn't know that he was capable of talking at a normal volume.

"Yes sir! General Howe plans on attacking at sunset!" Alex nodded dutifully.

"Then we'll just have to attack first," FunkyHatDude said, leading us out of his tent and to the center of the camp.

"What's happening?" Jeremy asked, pulling me aside.

"Just watch," I muttered nervously.

"THERE ARE REDCOATS NEARBY AND THEY PLAN TO ATTACK AT SUNSET!" FunkyHatDude hollered, "WE'LL HAVE TO ATTACK FIRST! GRAB YOUR GUNS AND PREPARE TO FIGHT!"

The soldiers surrounding us jumped in surprise, scattering about to grab their weapons. "Remember what we practiced," Jeremy yelled, running towards our tent. I nodded, grabbing a gun from the barrel and racing off in search of John.

I found him standing near the edge of the woods with Herc, Laff, and Alex. They all held their weapons in a tight grip, looking around anxiously. "We're going to have to lead them to the redcoats," Herc murmured.

"Okay then," I stammered, taking a deep breath as I watched a crowd of men formed around us.

This was it. My first real battle. I might have to kill today. Would I even be able to kill? Or would I get killed? Izze's voice rang in my ears. "I swear to freakin Lin-Manuel Miranda that if you die again, I'm going to freakin revive you so that I can kill you myself!" she sobbed.

"I promise, I'll come back to you," I told her. Would I though?

FunkyHatDude signaled for us to move out and we stepped into the woods, moving quietly in the direction of the clearing. As we walked my fears began to grow.

What if someone goes to shoot at me and I freeze up? What if— what if someone goes to shoot at one of my friends, and I freeze up?

I shook my head, pushing away those thoughts and focusing on finding the clearing. A few minutes later, we arrived and FunkyHatDude held up a hand, telling us to stop. He peeked through the bushes before telling us to spread out.

The redcoats were calm and unsuspecting, chatting quietly while EvilFunkyHatDude kept watch. Apparently, he was doing a terrible job of it, cause he never noticed the hundreds of soldiers surrounding him and his men.

I situated myself near Laurens and held my gun at the ready, waiting for the general to make the first move. Then I heard it. The sound of a gun going off from a nearby tree. A redcoat fell to the floor in a heap.

The battle had begun.


	13. Aim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Hehe... sorry about the cliffhanger. AnYwAyS, enjoy le chappie! *throws confetti*

Y/N's POV

The battle had begun.

Laurens and I shared a quick look before aiming down at the group of men below us. I heard his gun go off and saw another redcoat fall from their horse.

I took a deep breath and focused on my target. This was it. I was really about to do this.

The soldiers below us scrambled to grab their weapons. The man I was aiming at grabbed a gun and pointed up at the trees. John and I were hidden behind the leaves, barely visible unless we moved.

John shifted as he looked for a new redcoat and my target aimed at him, moving his hand as if to pull the trigger. John didn't see him.

My heart raced as I took another deep breath... and made my shot. My target fell to the floor. Dead. A wave of guilt engulfed me but I shook it off, aiming at a different man. There was no time to be guilty.

All around me, redcoats and bluecoats were falling to the ground in heaps. Their blood colored the dirt around them bright red. Half of them still had their eyes wide open. None of them were still breathing.

EvilFunkyHatDude was yelling orders left and right, trying to get his men to get information but they were too panicky. They grabbed whatever weapon that was available to him and aimed at whatever they saw move.

FunkyHatDude signaled for us to close in on them and we moved forward, circling around them. We were completely visible now.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins and I pulled the trigger again, causing another man to drop. I kept moving. Nonstop.

Eventually, EvilFunkyHatDude yelled for his men to retreat. They raced off down the path, back in the direction they came from. We picked off as many men as we could as they retreated, but we didn't follow them.

As soon as they were out of sight, we moved to identify our fallen soldiers. I looked around for my friends. Lafayette was off to the left, helping the wounded. Hercules was grabbing the leftover supplies and weapons from the fallen redcoats.

"You did it!" Jeremy yelled, coming up from behind me and clapping me on the back.

"Yeah," I breathed, looking down guiltily.

"Hey," he frowned, "If you didn't shoot them, then they would've shot you, okay? You did the right thing."

"I know... but still. Anyways, have you seen John?"

"Um, yes!" he smiled, staring at something over my shoulder.

"Elijah!" someone yelled. I let out a breath of relief as John raced towards me. I hugged him tightly before punching him as hard as I could in the shoulder, which wasn't very hard.

"Ow!" he whined, "What was that for?!"

"You need to pay more attention, Laurens!" I scolded, "You almost got yourself killed just then!"

"But I didn't!" he pointed out.

I rolled my eyes at him, pulling him off towards the others. After a couple of minutes, we led our comrades back towards the camp.

"PACK YOUR THINGS!" FunkyHatDude shouted, "WE'RE MOVING CAMP AT DUSK!"

Everybody headed their separate ways to grab their things. I didn't have much stuff to take with me, just my letters and other crap.

Around sunset we set off to find a new place to hold camp. We walked for hours through the woods. Eventually we came across a large enough clearing and we put up our tents.

That was when he approached me. "Truman!" Alex shouted, rushing over to me. "What are you playing at?!"

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"You say that your courting Isabelle, but I can—" he leaned in close, "I can tell that you like John."

"I do not!" I gasped. He gave me a doubtful look and I felt my face heat up. Was I really that obvious?

His expression darkened and he shoved me backward. "End things with Isabelle or leave John alone," he growled.

I stared down at my feet as I weighed my options. If I 'ended things with Izze' then he would be watching to make sure that I don't send her any letters. She wouldn't be able to keep Alex convinced that I'm still at home. I would get caught.

If I 'leave John alone' then I wouldn't be able to keep track of the Revolutionary Crew. What if I was supposed to interfere at some point in order to keep history the same? Or to keep them alive? I already had to save John once already.

"No," I said, standing my ground.

He glared down at me and got in my face. "Meet me near the lake at dawn. Bring your guns," he spat before shoving past me.

Good job Y/N! I told myself as I rushed to go find John. You're about to duel one of your founding fathers!

"I need your help," I stammered, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him towards my tent.

"With what?" he asked, looking at me confusedly. He could probably tell that I was freaking out.

"AlexjustchallengedmetoaduelandnowI'mprobablyabouttodie!" I gushed, fidgeting with the sleeves of my uniform.

"I have no idea what you just said," he breathed, "Say that again, but slower."

"Alex just challenged me to a duel and now I'm gonna die!" I exclaimed.

"Oh shit," he said.

That only made me freak out more. "Not helping!"

"Sorry! Look, you're not going to die." I gave him a doubtful look and he sighed, gesturing for me to sit down with him.

"He won't shoot. Yes, he hates you— but not enough to kill you. He'll aim at the sky."

"If he wasn't gonna shoot then why does he wanna duel in the first place?!" I asked.

"He just wants to scare you," John answered, "Do you know how to duel?"

I thought back to my Hamilton playlist and the lyrics to 10 Duel Commandments started playing in my head. "Yes," I whispered.

"I'll be your second!" Jeremy exclaimed, stepping inside the tent, causing me to crack a small smile.

"Alex is gonna have a hard time finding a second," John smiled, "Neither Hercules or Lafayette will help him. Not if they know that you're the one he's dueling."

I nodded tiredly, following them outside. I only had a few hours to prepare.

—————

Pretty soon, the sun began to rise and I made my way to the lake with my gun. Jeremy stood at my side and John, Herc, and Laff were right behind us.

When we finally arrived, we saw Alex standing near the water with a doctor and Mr. GetInTheGrid. I chuckled softly at that.

The next few moments passed in a blur.

Lafayette told the doctor to turn around. Jeremy attempted to speak to Mr. GetInTheGrid and tried to convince him that this duel was unnecessary, but he wouldn't listen.

I took a deep breath and loaded my gun. John nodded to me in encouragement. Alex and I locked eyes, both of us glaring anxiously at each other. Then we took our paces.

One. Two. Three. Jeremy stood near the doctor, fidgeting with the hem of his uniform as he stared my way.

Four. Five. Six. Mr. GetInTheGrid shot me a smug look from his place by the water.

Seven. Eight. Nine. This was it. At the end of the day, all that mattered was that Alex survives. I knew what I had to do.

Ten. I raised my pistol to the sky.

A gunshot rang out.


	14. Act

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I had a really difficult time writing this chappie cause for some reason I couldn't focus at all but I know that y'all have waited a long time for this update, so enjoy!

Izze's POV (Hehe, that's right! I shall leave y'all in suspense. *evil laughter* Please don't kill me)

I shimmied into the blue dress, sighing tiredly. Today was the day. Angelica was getting too suspicious and so... I needed to 'become' Y/N.

Not that it was going to be a difficult task. After all, I grew up with her. I know exactly how she would act in this situation. Not to mention the fact that I look exactly like her.

The hard part was going to be lying. I am many things. Energetic, smart, annoying— but not a liar. Well... usually. Acting was different. I wouldn't mind walking around a stage pretending to be Peggy, however, just the thought of pretending to be my sister made me sick to my stomach.

I knew exactly what I needed to do. I just... couldn't actually do it.

I shook away those thoughts and fidgeted nervously with my hair, attempting to make it look similar to how she had hers before she cut it. It worked. Sort of. "Oh well," I sighed, leaving the house and heading down the road.

The plan was called 'Operation D-Minus'. Why? Because I'm a theater nerd.

Anyways, the first thing I needed to do was show up at the Schuyler's house. Then I needed to give some sort of excuse for why 'I' couldn't work for them. Then I needed to run back to Alex's house and change back into my yellow dress and then go to work.

I felt like taking a nap, not attempting Mission Impossible.

After a while of walking, I was stopped by the one and only Peggy Schuyler bear the entrance of her house.   
"Y/N?!" she gasped, immediately engulfing me in a hug. "Are you okay?! Izze said that you were sick."

"Um... yeah," I winced.

Skillz.

"Did Izze tell you about our job offer?" she asked, pulling me towards the front door.

"Yep!" I smiled, stumbling after her. "That's actually why I was heading over to your place. I have some news I wanna share with y'all."

"Ooh, sounds interesting!" Peggy rushed me inside and into the kitchen where Angelica and Eliza sat, eating breakfast.

"Y/N?!" They shouted, attacking me with hugs and knocking the air out of me.

"Heyyy," I said awkwardly.

"Are you feeling better?" Eliza beamed, "We were so worried!"

"Absolutely! I'm fine! No Corona for me!" I joked.

"What's Corona?" Angie frowned. Oh. Whoops.

"It's— um... nothing. It's nothing." They didn't seem convinced. "Anyways, I wanted to tell y'all that, unfortunately, I can't work here."

"What? Why?" Peggy breathed, slumping slightly in her chair.

"Somebody already offered me a job and I accepted it. I'm going to be helping the Coopers keep up with The Orchard."

"Oh," Eliza sighed, "That's okay."

We chatted quietly for a couple of minutes until Angelica looked up at me with a curious expression. "Hey, Y/N? How did you know how to get here?"

Oh crap. I didn't think of that. Whoops. To be fair, I didn't think much about any of this. I just kinda... do.

"Oh— um... Izze told me," I said far too quickly. Eliza looked at me suspiciously as if she was trying to tell whether or not I was lying.

"Where is she?" she questioned.

"A-At the house. She said she'll be over soon but—"

"Great! I'll send somebody to go get her so that she doesn't have to walk."

"N-No!" I rushed, causing them to look at me concernedly. "She uh— she likes to walk?" I sounded so sure of myself. (Note the sarcasm)

Angelica sighed and leaned forward knowingly. "I know it's you Izze," she said. I was not expecting that.

"What are you talking about?" I squeaked, voice getting higher as I spoke. Peggy giggled softly at that.

"Your ring," Angie smirked, pointing to my right ring finger where a simple gold band sat. My grandma has given me that ring when I went to middle school. She gave Y/N the matching necklace.

"That was one thing I noticed when I met y'all," she continued, "You have a ring and Y/N has a necklace."

"Oh," I breathed. Major whoops.

"So," Peggy chirped, "Where's Y/N?"

I looked around nervously and weighed my options. I could keep lying to them and embarrass myself even more, or I could tell them and run the risk of them not keeping the secret. If they told, them Y/N could get in major trouble.

I fidgeting with the hem of my sister's dress anxiously and took a deep breath. Who was I kidding? This was the motherflippin Schuyler sisters! These queens could keep a secret.

"You're probably not gonna like this," I winced, looking up at them with a tired expression. They leaned forward in their seats with anticipation and I thought about how best to phrase this.

"She may or may not have disguised herself as a dude and ran off to join the revolution," I gushed, happy to get that off of my chest.

Their eyes widened and they froze in shock. Maybe I could've phrased that better, I thought, staring at their shocked looks.

When they finally calmed down enough to fully register what I was telling them, I explained everything to them— except for the whole 'time traveler' thing. They were actually rather calm about it and offered to let me stay with them while Y/N and Alex were gone.

I accepted, with me being a people person and all. I had to rush home to put on my dress though because 1700 style clothing wasn't cutting it for me. I also got the chance to write to my sister before I went to bed. Boy was she in for a shocking letter.

'Dear Elijah Truman,

So, the Schuyler sisters know about the 'Mulan' thing that ya got going on. That was a fun conversation.

Stay safe!   
-Izze'


	15. Shock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guy! I shall now free y'all from the suspense I've been trapping y'all in. Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

Ten. I raised my pistol to the sky.

A gunshot rang out.

I squeezed my eyes shut, anticipating the pain of the bullet. It never came. There was silence near the lake. I let out the breath I'd been holding.

I was alive.

John and the others ran over to me, enveloping me in a huge hug. "I told you he wouldn't shoot!" John beamed. I wasn't listening. I was in shock.

I turned around slowly and saw Alex glaring at me from across the distance. I smiled.

He handed Mr. GetInTheGrid his pistol before stalking off back in the direction of the camp.

I turned back to the crew surrounding me and buried my face in John's chest. It's funny how when you think you're about to die, time speeds up. Time flies.

"Holy crap!" I shouted, "IM ALIVE!"

"Yeahhh," John said slowly, chuckling softly.

Suddenly, the reality of the situation began to sink in and I felt my eyes water slightly. If Alex hadn't fired into the air— if he'd shot me, then I would've died and Izze wouldn't have even known. Alex couldn't tell her. As far as he knew, I was Elijah Truman.

Or even worse— if Alex had sent her a letter celebrating the death of the 'cheating boy'.

I looked up at them, letting my heartbeat slow down, and whispered, "Thank you." They looked at me confusedly as I turned and began to make my way back to camp.

John caught up to me when I was halfway there. "Hey," he whispered, "Whenever you get the chance, we need to talk about something very important." His brow was furrowed and he looked confused.

"About what?" I asked.

"It has to do with your name," he whispered, "Just please, meet me at the lake later today so that we can talk."

I nodded, taking in a shaky breath. It has to do with my name? Elijah Truman. Holy crap— what if he knows?!

I shook away that thought and walked with him the rest of the way to our tents. Even if he knew, he wouldn't tell anyone, right? John wasn't like that.

"I'll see you later," I told him, shooting him a quick smile before walking into my tent. Two letters sat on my cot.

"The mailboy came by earlier while you were out training," Jeremy chirped, "I made sure he left you your mail."

"Thanks!" I beamed, picking up the letters and opened the first one.

"No problem."

It seemed as if Izze had already read this one.

'My dearest Y/N Owens,

I've been troubling over a recent discovery of mine. (Ooh) That boy Elijah Truman, (Sounds familiar) who's courting Isabelle, seems to have taken a liking to one of our fellow soldiers. (Okay, first of all, hOw cOuLd yOu bEtrAy mEh liKe DiS?! Second of all, WHO?!)

I've been debating over whether or not to tell your sister about his scandalous (sCaNdAlOuS) ways, but I truly believe that somebody needs to tell her. (iF i cOuLd tElL hEr— okay I'll stop now) I'll leave the decision up to you, but I urge you to let her know the truth.

I hope that you both are doing well.

—A. Ham (A. Burr)'

I rolled my eyes at Alex's words and Izze's comments before opening the next one.

'Dear Elijah Truman,

So, the Schuyler sisters know about the 'Mulan' thing that ya got going on. That was a fun conversation.

Stay safe!   
-Izze'

Oh crap. If I was correct about what John wanted to talk about, then that would make a grand total of four people that know about my 'Mulan thing'. Fuuuu—

I thought for a moment before writing out my responses. The first one reeked of sarcasm— not that Alex would be able to tell.

'Dear Alexander Hamilton,

I'm in shock. I just cannot believe how scandalous this Truman boy truly is. I agree completely with you. Izze deserves to know. I'm sure that she'll be absolutely devastated. I'll tell her as soon as possible. Thank you for bringing these truths to light.

Stay safe,  
Y/N Owens'

That was fun. I folded up that letter and started writing the next one. Short and simple, of course.

'Dear Isabelle Owens,

SPILL THE TEA, SIS. I NEED DETAILS AND I NEED THEM NOW. Oh, and the boy may or may not be John Laurens.

Love you,   
Y/N'

——————

After finding the mailboy and dropping off the letters with him, I decided to start heading back to the lake. If John truly knew about... me, then this was a conversation that I couldn't put off.

When I finally got there, he was sitting near the water looking as confused as me during PE.

"What did you need to talk about?" I asked, spooking him slightly as I took a seat next to him near the water.

"Well," he frowned, clearing his throat awkwardly. "When we hugged— after the duel— our bodies were obviously pressed close together and I— I could—" he shifted uncomfortably before whispering in my ear.

"I could feel your— your chest."

I tried to keep my facial expression serious, but I couldn't help but dissolve into laughter at how nervous and awkward he was being.

He looked at me with a bewildered expression while I tried to stop giggling like a madman. "I will never understand you," he muttered.

"I'm sorry," I laughed, "It's just— you are adorable when you're embarrassed." I finally managed to stop giggling and looked back at him with a serious look.

"Listen, John, you can't tell any—"

"IS THAT A TURTLE?!" He gasped, focusing on a small, green thing behind me.

I turned around excitedly only to see the most adorable looking animal I had ever seen in my life. The tiny turtle was moving slowly near my leg, unafraid of the scary humans next to it. It was small enough to fit in my pocket.

"OH MY GOSH! I WANNA KEEP THEM! CAN WE KEEP THEM?!" John asked, moving closer to the unfazed animal.

"Um... yes!" I smiled moving to pick it up. It looked up at me casually, as if this were a normal occurrence.

What a normal day.


	16. Confessions & Custody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! APpArEnTLey I'm a smol bean. I disagree. I IS A FIERCE WARRIOR (who happens to be 5'0) AnYwaYs, enjoy!

Y/N's POV

"OH MY GOSH! I WANNA KEEP THEM! CAN WE KEEP THEM?!" John asked, moving closer to the unfazed animal in complete fanboy mode.

"Um... yes!" I smiled, moving to pick him up. The adorable little thing fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. He looked up at me casually, as if this were a normal occurrence.

What a normal day. (Note the sarcasm)

"I hereby declare that his name shall be Fred!" John announced, picking up the small guy and holding him in the air like Simba. I had half a mind to start singing the Circle of Life.

(AAAHZIBBENYAHH ZUBABIZIBABA)

"AnYwAyS," I said, taking Fred away from him. "I need you to promise that you won't tell anybody that I'm a girl. Not even Alex, Herc, and Laff. If I get caught they could send me home or do something worse."

He looked at me for a moment with a small smile on his face before nodding solemnly. "I promise that I won't tell anybody," he said.

"Not even...?" I let the question dangle and he chuckled softly.

"Not even Alex, Herc, and Laff," he said.

We sat there for a moment in silence until Fred started to move towards John, who happily scooped him up. Who does he think he is, taking mah child?!

"Sooo," he smirked, holding Freddy in his palm. "If you're not really a guy, then what's your real name."

"Y/N Owens," I said, "But you can only call me that in private."

"Deal." A second later he froze and a look of realization came across his face. "Hold up! Your Y/N Owens. As in THE Y/N Owens?! As in Alex's Y/N Owens?!"

I slapped my hand over his mouth, startling Fred. I picked him up and sat back with a huff. "First of all, Alex does not own me. Second of all, lower your voice before you get me caught!"

"Oh... whoops?" He winced.

"It's okay," I sighed. Who could stay mad at John Motherfreakin Laurens? It's impossible.

"But... that is you, right?" He asked, one AGAIN taking Fred from me. Does he not understand how women and their children work?!

"Yep," I nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Holy shit," he breathed, "What if Alex had shot at you, rather than the sky?"

"Thaaat would've been bad," I muttered, grabbing Fred and setting him in my lap. The poor turtle looked back and forth between John and me, obviously confused.

"That's an understatement," he chuckled, reaching forward and taking mah child AGAIN!

Deep breaths, I thought. Then I told myself, 'What would Izze do?'

"QUIT STEALING MAH MOTHERFLIPPIN CHILD!" I yelled.

Izze would be so proud.

"Oh no no no!" John laughed, "You've got it all wrong, girly! Fred is my child!"

"Nuh-uh, turtleboi!" I frowned, "He is mine!"

"I found him! And named him!"

"You also asked for my permission to keep him," I pointed out.

"Actually the agreement was that WE could keep him," he smirked, "So he can be OUR child."

I blushed and grabbed Fred from him again. "Fine," I said, "But I want shared custody or your paying me child support."

"Deal," he laughed, "It's getting dark though. We should probably head back to camp. I call having Fred tonight."

"Fine by me," I smiled, "So long as I can have him all day tomorrow."

He nodded and held out his arms for Fred. I grudgingly handed him over. John hugged the confused turtle close and whispered, "Freddy, your Mommy is crazy."

I smacked him on ze back of his head.

"Ow!" He whined, rubbing the back of his head as the tents came in sight.

"Freddy's mommy is right here," I growled, pointing at myself. The mailboy passed by us and gave me an odd look.

Whoops.

John burst out laughing so, of course, I smacked him again. "Ow!" He yelped.

"Your mommy's abusive," he told Freddy, tucking him in one of his uniform pockets.

"Oh hush," I said.

"Yes ma'am!" He laughed, giving me a mock salute.

"Remember, Laurens, I'm Elijah Truman here, not Y/N," I whispered as we entered the camp.

"Got it," he said.

He waved goodbye to me and we went our separate ways to go to sleep.

—————

I woke up extra early the next morning and wrote my sister a letter explaining... well, yesterday. Yeah, that was interesting, to say the least.

'Dear Isabelle Owens,

So, I maybe kinda sorta got in a duel with Alex. I'm okay though! Luckily he shot at the sky. He was just being salty because he can tell that I like John and aPpArEnTlEy I'm cheating on you. Talk about sCaNdElOuS!

AnYwAyS, John knows that I'm a girl now. Long story short, he accidentally felt my boobs and now I'm a mother.

Love ya,   
Y/N Owens'

I set the letter under my pillow and headed straight for John's tent. When I finally got there, I paused at the door. (Or whatever it called. I cant English today, mah dudes.)

"What iz his name?" The Frenchfry said.

"Fred," John answered, "Elijah and I found him near the lake."

"What were you doing at the lake with him?" The salty one asked voice laced with jealously.

"Talking and fighting over Freddy," John said.

"HES ADORABLE!" Herc yelled.

"Yep!" John laughed, "And he's all mine."

I walked inside and saw the guys sitting in a circle around my— John and I's child. I pushed my way passed Alex and scooped up Freddy, hugging him to my chest. "And mine," I smirked.

"But—" Turtleboi protested, reaching for him pitifully and sticking out his bottom lip.

"Nope. My day," I chirped. He sat back with a pout, looking to his friends for help. Laff and Herc just shrugged and Alex shot me a dark look which, of course, returned.

I had a feeling that he would be looking at me like that for quite a long time.


	17. FunkyHatDad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here comes a time skip mah dudes! AnYwAyS, let's get this plot moving! Enjoy!

Y/N's POV (1 teensy weensy year later)

"Here we go again," I muttered, throwing my hand over the side of my cot and reaching blindly for my spare parchment with my eyes squeezed shut.

"You know," a voice chuckled softly, stepping inside the tent. "You might need to open your eyes to see." John leaned down and handed me the paper thingy with a smirk.

"Oh hush." I peeled open my eyes and grabbed my ink well out from under my cot, dipping my funny looking feather in it.

John and I had a routine of sorts. Every morning he would wake me up before sunrise and we would head to his tent and hang out with the rest of the crew. Then we would train.

"Who are you writing to?" He asked, sitting down next to me.

"Beyoncé," I said sarcastically.

"Who?"

"Nevermind. I'm writing to Izze."

"Oh." He pulled Freddy out from his uniform's pocket and set him on my lap as I wrote.

Dear Isabelle Owens,

FunkyHatDudes been extra critical lately. He yells even more than usual for the tiniest things. Kinda reminds me of Mom.

Alex still hates me btw. He's jEaLoUs cause I'm Freddy's momma and not him. Sucks to suck.

I think I'm getting worse in training. I almost shot Jeremy in the butt yesterday when we were practicing my aim. Oops.

John and Fred are doing great! You might even be able to meet them soon! Maybe. Johns trying to convince Herc to make your nephew a sweater... it's not working so far but we have high hopes.

Anyways, I miss you. A lot. I don't know how much longer the war will last but things aren't looking too great so far. Maybe we'll get to visit our families soon if all goes well.

Stay safe! I love you! -Y/N

"Here you go!" I chirped, passing the letter to John who folded it up and sealed it. A couple of seconds later, we walked outside and dropped the letter with the mailboy.

Oddly enough, the majority of the soldiers were awake and stumbling groggily around the camp. They all looked very very annoyed.

John shot me a questioning look. "Why on Earth is everybody—"

"Here comes the general!" Someone shouted happily. We turned to see an overexcited Aaron Burr dashing from tent to tent and shaking awake the poor sleeping people inside.

"I do believe that's why," I laughed, pointing at him.

"Don't we see the general every day?" John muttered.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"George Motherfreaking Washington is on his way!" Burr shouted.

Holy crap! I thought, I'm about to meet Washingdad! [insert excited fangirl noises here]

"Cmon John!" I beamed, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the center of the camp where FunkyHatDude stood moodily, waiting for his troops. He glared at us as we got near.

Pretty soon, all of the soldiers stood in a crowd watching with anticipation as a man on a horse approached in the distance. He wore a blue uniform and the iconic FunkyHat, marking him as a general.

"I'm General Washington," he announced, getting off of his horse and examining the troops surrounding him. "I hope y'all aren't having a difficult time with the war so far, because the battles barely begun."

I and the rest of the soldiers looked around nervously, not getting the inspirational speech we— no, they expected. I, unlike them, had seen Hamilton. (Ze musical, not the jealous butthole)

"It'll only get worse from here and we don't have the advantage. We're outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, and out planned," Washingdad said. I had to fight against the urge to start shouting song lyrics in his face.

"In order to win this, we're really going to need to step it up. I'm doing everything I can, but I'm going to need some help."

I felt Freddy wiggle in my pocket, and I shifted slightly, trying not to laugh. John shot me an amused look, eying the small turtle head peeping out from my thigh.

"General Schuyler has been watching you men and assessing your skills. Based on what he's told me, I'll be selecting one of you to stand by my side and help me to lead and strategize. Somebody to be my right hand man."

Yayyyy. FunkyHatDude probably told him that all I'm good for is shooting my comrades in the butt.

"For now," Washington sighed, "You may all go back to training. Dismissed." The troops all scattered, the majority of them heading back to their tents, probably wanting to go back to sleep.

"Mon ami!" The Baguette yelled, standing nearby with the rest of the crew. "We're gonna go train. Do you wanna join us?"

Probably not a good idea, I thought. I don't think any of them would appreciate a bullet to the butt. Alex kinda deserves one though.

"It's okay Laff!" I told him, "I think that John and I might just head down to the lake."

John nodded. "Maybe run a couple of miles," he added.

"Eww," I muttered, "Exercise."

"Orrr not," he chuckled, waving goodbye to Lafayette and leading us both towards the lake.

"So Y/N," John smiled as soon as we were far enough away from the camp. "Who do you think Washington will choose?"

"I dunno," I lied, picking up Freddy and holding him in the palm of my hand."Probably a butthole like Lee or Conway. They seem to be his favorites."

He sighed and took Fred from me, looking down fondly at the small turtle.

That was when we heard the sound of running footsteps approaching from behind us. John and I turned around quickly, prepared to fight but luckily it was just Jeremy.

He held up his hands in surrender and attempted to catch his breath. "E-Elijah," he panted, "General Washington wants to see you."

I felt my blood run cold and John and I shared a fearful look. Had I been caught?


	18. Miss Right Hand Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Ready for another chapter of mah word vomit? Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

That was when we heard the sound of running footsteps approaching from behind us. John and I turned around quickly, prepared to fight, but luckily it was just Jeremy.

He held up his hands in surrender and attempted to catch his breath. "E-Elijah," he panted, "General Washington wants to see you."

I felt my blood run cold and John and I shared a fearful look. Had I been caught?

"D-Did he say why?" I stammered, taking Freddy from John and hugging him to my chest. I was tOtALly not nervous.

"No, just that he wants to see you immediately. It sounds urgent," Jeremy frowned, turning around and walking back towards the camp.

"Umm... o-okay," I stammered, quickly handing Fred to John and rushing to catch up to Jeremy.

I tried my best not to fall on my face as we walked. Well— more like ran. What if he knows that Im a girl? If I get caught then they could send me home. Or worse.

As soon as we could see the tents, I sprinted to General Washingdad's. Oddly enough, I saw Burr storm out, looking rather upset and I gulped. FunkyHatDad must be on his man period.

Yayyy.

"Sir?" I called, stepping inside. Alex stood off to the side with a smug look on his face. Just my luck. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes!" Washingdad smiled, ushering me to sit down. "General Schuyler's told me many interesting things about you."

Darn it. "You're sending me home aren't you?" I frowned.

He didn't answer. Alex looked up with a hopeful expression.

"Okay then," I frowned, standing up and moving to leave. "I'll go pack."

"Wait no!" Washington laughed, "I'm not sending you home!" Alex pouted.

"Y-You're not?" I asked.

"Of course not! I actually had a very important question to ask you," he said, ushering me back to my seat.

Alex looked up in concern. "Sir--"

"Hush Hamilton," Washingdad said, "Like I was saying, General Schuyler's told me many things about you, Mr. Truman."

I almost didn't recognize my 'name'. Hehe.

All of a sudden, he sat down in front of me with a serious expression. Uh oh. I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt and looked around nervously.

Washington smirked. "Truman, how do you feel about being one of my right hand men?"

I blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

"How do you feel about being one of my right hand men?" He repeated.

"Sir, I really don't think--"

"Hush Hamilton!" Washingdad and I both snapped.

"Why me?" I frowned, "Did General Schuyler tell you about the 'booty bullet' incident?"

"Unfortunately yes. However, he also told me that you fight strategically on the battlefield."

"I wouldn't really call it strategy," I winced, "More like trying not to get shot while keeping my friends from dying before the second... half of the war. Yeah."

"With all due respect," Washington chuckled, "Be quiet."

"Yes, sir."

"Look, however you fight, you fight well. You have terrible aim, but you make smart decisions. Hamilton's the same way, except he won't shoot anyone in the butt. I want you two to work together as my right hand men."

Alex and I shared a look of mutual distaste. "Of course, sir!" We smiled.

"Great!" Washingdad smirked, "Then I'll just leave you two to get acquainted!" He stood with a smile, walking out and closing the tent flap behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Alex and I turned to each other. "I don't like you," he frowned.

"I don't like you either."

"I don't wanna work with you."

"And I don't wanna work with you."

"But I'm guessing we don't really get a choice."

"Yep."

"Yayyy."

We kinda just stood there for a moment, glaring at each other from across the tent. Then, out of nowhere, he said, "Are you cheating on Izze?"

"Of course not!" I frowned. Technically, I was telling the truth. You couldn't cheat on someone you never started dating in the first place.

"For some crazy reason, I don't believe you," He sneered.

"You don't have to. Your opinion won't change the truth."

"I can tell that you're hiding something, Truman," he muttered.

"Really? I am?" I gasped, lying through my teeth. "Please, do tell me what it is. Cause I seriously don't know."

He didn't answer, instead choosing to glare at me in silence as if that would magically give him all of the answers he wanted. After I while I stood up with a sigh.

"Well," I smirked, "I think we've gotten plenty acquainted." I sent him one final glare before stalking out of the tent.

Jeremy was waiting for me outside with a worried expression. "So? How'd it go?" He asked.

"Wanna help me pack?" I sighed, putting on my best kicked puppy face.

"Oh shit."

"Just kidding!" I chirped, laughing slightly at his relieved expression. "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

"The good news," he smiled, leading me back towards the lake.

"I sorta kinda just became one of Washington's right hand men," I chuckled.

"That's great! Wait-- what's the bad news?"

"Hamilton happens to be the other one."

"Ha! Sucks to be you!" He smirked.

"Yeah yeah, very funny."

Pretty soon we arrived back at the lake and saw a worried John Laurens sitting by the water, hugging a tiny turtle to his chest. We quickly told him what happened, calming him down slightly. As soon as Jeremy left though, John turned to me with a mischievous look.

"Miss Right Hand Man, huh?" He laughed, staring down at Freddy who was calmly walking back and forth between the two of us.

"Yep," I sighed.

"Why do I have a feeling that the general doesn't know that his right hand man is a woman?"

"That would be because he doesn't know about that minor detail."

"GASP!" He smiled, looking at me with a fake offended look. (Yes, he said the word 'gasp') "Lying?!"

He quickly scooped up Freddy, hugging to confused little turtle to his chest and shielding the poor thing's eyes. "Freddy," John said, "Please, don't take after your mommy! She's a criminal!"

The tiny turtle chirped in confusion.

After a little while, John passed Fred to me and headed off to go and train. As soon as he was gone I set my child on my palm and sighed.

"Freddy," I smiled, "Please, do take after your daddy. He's absofreakin adorable."


	19. Gred & Forge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Ready for another chappie! Here we go again! Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

Listen, being one of Washington's 'right hand men' wasn't actually as great as it seemed in the musical. It's very tiring, and quite frankly, rather time consuming. I barely had any free time left anymore.

Whenever I did though, John was pretty much always there with me.

Our favorite place to go was the lake. Which actually kinda sucked. Mosquitoes almost always swarmed us as soon as we got near the water, not the mention the fact that the water stunk.

Yet somehow, John always made it seem like the best place on Earth.

Normally, I would've argued that the best place on Earth was the candy shop near the edge of my neighborhood, but seeing as that shop wouldn't exist for another 200 years, I decided not to mention it. Yet.

We would sit by the water and talk for hours before Laff, Herc, or Jeremy would find us and tease us for the rest of the day. John would freak out every time he saw a turtle peek up at us from beneath the murky water.

Which brings us to right now.

"THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!" He shouted, taking Fred from my arms and holding him towards the water in the direction of the mini turtle ahead of us. "That could be your little brother or sister, Freddy!"

"What is that, Possible Sibling #376?" I smirked, looking over at the small animal.

"It's Possible Sibling #386, actually," John pointed out, setting our child down and letting him stand on the dirt of the 'beach'.

As soon as I spotted it, my eyes widened in shock. The little mini turtle staring at me looked identical to Freddy, which kinda sounds ridiculous because every turtle pretty much looks the same. This one though was the exact shade and size as my child.

"Holy crap," I breathed, only freaking out more when the mini turtle started swimming towards us. John was practically jumping with joy.

Pretty soon, Fred's twin had left the water and crawled over to his clone, plopping down next to him on the dirt. John and I sat in silence, watching as the two turtles chirped at each other casually as if they'd been talking for years now.

Just like brothers.

"Our child?" John gasped.

"Our child," I answered. "I declare that his name shall be George!"

"What?!" he frowned. "I was gonna name him John Jr."

"Cute, but no. His name has to be George."

"Why?" he whined, tentatively picking up the mini turtle baby.

"Because... reasons." I figured it wouldn't be worth it to try and explain Harry Potter to him. Especially seeing as its creator wouldn't even be born for another 200 years or so.

"I don't know if we'll be able to tell them apart," John sighed, looking between the two, trying to spot any possible differences. "Unless..."

He looked me in the eyes, a very mischievous smirk making its way across his face. Almost immediately, I realized what he was trying to tell me. I quickly scooped up Fred, jumping up and racing John towards the camp.

"HERCULES MOTHERFREAKIN MULLIGAN!" We yelled as we dashed through the trees with our confused children at record speed.

My P.E. teacher would be so proud of me right now.

A couple of moments later, we arrived back at the camp, still yelling for our friend at the top of our lungs. None of the other soldiers paid us any attention. They were used to us being-- well... us at this point.

We dashed past many tents, including Washingdad's, heading to where we hoped the guy was. FunkyHatDad shot me an amused look as John and I passed him.

A couple of seconds later, we burst into our friends' tent, panting tiredly. "HERCULES MOTHERFREAKIN MULLIGAN!" We yelled again. 

"Umm... yes?" Herc frowned, staring at us in confusion. We were quite the sight after all with our tired states and our twin turtles.

We collapsed onto John's cot with a sigh, and I held out Fred for him to take. "Freddy!" Herc beamed, taking my child from me before freezing in shock, staring at the other turtle with us. "And... Freddy?"

"Nope!" John chirped, holding up the child proudly. "This is George. He's Fred's brother."

"John," Herc sighed, "What did I tell you about adopting random turtles you find at the lake?"

"Not to do it..."

"And what did you do?"

"I did it," John grumbled. "But, can you blame me?! I mean, look at them! They're adorable!"

"And identical," I pointed out, giving him a meaningful look.

"Let me guess," Herc sighed, "You want me to make them matching sweaters?"

"Yep!" John and I said at the same time. Our kids looked up at Herc questioningly.

"Fine," he grumbled, grabbing some supplies out from under his cot. We spent the next couple of hours with him, watching as he measured the twins and got to work making their sweaters.

One of them had a large yellow 'G' in the middle, while the other was decorated with large yellow 'F'. They were both navy blue and so adorably tiny that they deserved to be in the clothing aisle of a pet store, not in the middle of a war.

"Oh my gosh, I love them!" I squealed in a very manly voice as soon as they were finished.

We thanked him profusely before heading back to the lake where we sat in silence, watching Fred and George chirp back and forth at each other in their own special language.

"How does it feel to be a mother of two?" John smirked. I took notice of how close together we were sitting and was suddenly very thankful that he couldn't see my blush with how dark it was outside.

"Pretty great actually," I sighed, scooting a tiny bit closer to him. "How's it feel to be a father of two?"

"Pretty darn amazing," he smiled, looking down at me. "Y/N Owens, you're the closest friend I've got."

Y/N, I thought, do not throw away your shot.

I smiled back at him and leaned my head on his shoulder, sighing contently, taking notice of the way he sucked in a breath but only moved closer.

While it may not have been a giant step forward, boy did it make me happy.


	20. Heading Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I had some family move in with me and my mom today sooo... that's awesome! AnYwAyS, here's another chapter of mah trash! Enjoy!

Y/N's POV (Four tiny little years later. Don't say I didn't warn y'all)

"Elijah Truman?" A voice to my left grumbled. Smirking, I nodded and grabbed my letter from the annoyed mailboy standing near my tent.

"Thanks, Thayne!" I chirped. He cracked me a small smile before walking off to deliver the rest of the mail in his bag.

A moment later, I was sitting on my cot, staring down at my letter in shock.

'Dear Elijah Truman,

I know that this is gonna sound prettyyy crazy, but hear me out, sis! I haven't seen you in five flipping years! So, I kinda sorta pulled some strings with Washingdad, (don't ask) and now... well...

START PACKING YOUR BAGS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE YOU'RE COMING DOWN TO NEW YORK FOR MOTHERFLIPPING WINTERS BALL!!! *pterodactyl screech*

I know what your gonna say. "You should've just waited until we get sent home!" But, I've done my waiting! Five years of it! In Azkaban!

Oops-- autocorrect. I meant New York.

Besides, we both know I that have just about zero patience.

So, start packing because Turtleboi should be bursting into your tent any moment now. Oh, did I forget to mention he's going to the ball too?!

AnYwAyS, I love ya! See you very very soon! Byeeeee! -Izze

PS. Say hello to Washingdad for me!

PSS. Also, bring that Jeremy boy you told me about.'

As if summoned by my sister, John came running into my tent with an adorably goofy grin plastered on his face. "Did you get one too?!"

"Yep!" I beamed, standing up and showing him my letter.

"Oh my gosh," he breathed, "We're going home?"

"We're going home," I nodded, letting that sink in.

I was going home. I gonna go see my sister. I could finally take off this stupid piece of cloth that was hurting my boobs. I could let down my hair. Gosh, I sound like Rapunzel. And I wouldn't have people calling me Elijah or Truman every five seconds.

Gollybageebus.

"Then let's go pack!"

I turned around and grabbed my spare uniform out from under my cot, checking to make sure that Freddy was in my pocket. "I'm finished packing!" I laughed, "Do you have Georgie?"

"Of course! What type of father do you think I am?!"

"An adorable one," I mumbled.

Over the past couple of years, John and I had only grown closer. We'd become those people who act like a couple, yet swear that they aren't one.

Yet. Hopefully. 

We were almost always with each other: walking around camp with our turtle babies, sitting at the lake, or trying our best to annoy Washington. Having two kids together kinda does that to yah.

The other soldiers just think that we're best friends. Hehe. Sure. Laff and Herc keep calling us their OTP. They're ahead of their time. Alex is... well, he's Alex.

A couple of moments later, we were running through the camp, heading towards the rest of the group. We burst into their tent and saw them all moving around hurriedly, grabbing all of their stuff from around the place.

"You guys are coming too?!" I asked, my jaw dropping slightly.

"Oui!" Lafayette smiled, "Some random girl named Isabelle Owens sent me a letter saying that she needed a Frenchfry to go to a rave with her and hit some pervs with baguettes."

Hercules smirked. "I got a letter saying, 'I need your amazing skills to come and make my sister and I look like the queens we are.'"

"Well, I actually know them!" Alex bragged, "So, they invited me as their friend."

John and I shared a look. "I got invited because I'm Izze's... boyfriend," I said, cringing at my own words.

We stayed with the group for a little while longer before Freddy started nibbling on my letter and I remembered what Izze had told me to do. "I'm supposed to invite Jeremy!" Pretty soon, John and I were racing back to my tent where we found him.

As much as I tried, I couldn't fight my instincts. "Jeremy, my buddy, hows it hangin'? Lunch is banging! Got mah sushi and mah slushie and more!" John elbowed me, giving me a pointed look. Jeremy looked confuzzled.

Whoops.

"Umm... what?"

"Nevermind," I sighed. "Have you ever been to a ball?"

"Once, I think," Jeremy frowned, "Why?"

"Great! Pack your things! We're headed to New York City to party at General Schuyler's house!"

He stared in me confusedly for a moment before moving to grab his stuff. I grabbed a piece of parchment and started scribbling down a letter to Izze. I didn't exactly what to say... so I kinda just winged it.

'Dear Isabelle Owens,

Turtleboi and I have the kids and are ready to go. Yes, that includes Herc and Laff.

Alex is being his usual self. Jeremy is confused. That may or may not be because I started singing Micheal's Entrance as soon as I saw him.

Anyways, we'll probably get to you before this letter does. I'm still gonna send it though because I don't have the energy to care.

I'll see you soon, sis! -Y/N

PS. Imma go say hi to Washingdad for you and then we'll start heading home. Love ya!'

"That's good enough," I mumbled, folding up the letter and heading off to go find Thayne, ze mailboy. As soon as I'd given him the letter, I made my way over to FunkyHatDad's tent.

"Sir?" I called, stepping inside excitedly. "Is it true that you arranged for me and a couple of other men to go home to New York City for a couple of weeks?"

He nodded happily. "Yep! I got a letter from a young woman named Isabelle Owens saying that y'all's presence was needed. Something about a rave she's throwing. Whatever that is."

"Alrighty then!" I smirked, "She wanted me to tell you that she says 'Hi'! And also, thanks, Dad!" I rushed out of the tent and back to the group before he had the chance to react.

A couple of minutes later, John, Fred, George, Alex, Herc, Laff, Jeremy, and I were walking through the woods heading to New York City with only a few things in our hands.

Heading home.


	21. Missing Turtle Babies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here's another chappie! Enjoy!

Y/N's POV

We'd been walking nonstop for many many hours before it finally hit me. By 'it', I mean an acorn. Straight on my forehead. Thanks, squirrel.

Besides that, I came to the stunning realization that I would need to somehow get out of this uniform and 'become' Y/N again without Alex, Herc, or Laff suspecting anything.

Uh oh.

I was gonna need some help.

Step one: get John alone so that we can make some sort of plan that we'll fail to execute later. But how? I took a deep breath, knowing that I was about to embarrass myself. What else is new?

"I need to, um, use the bathroom," I cringed, shooting John a pointed look. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not getting the message. Then, a moment later, his eyes widened slightly as he realized what I meant.

"Already?" Alex groaned. "You just went an hour ago."

"I actually need to go, too," John winced.

"That's fine," Laff smiled. "We'll wait for you here, mes amis."

I shot him a thankful look before pushing my way through the brush with John right behind me, careful not to fall into the snow. Fred and George were both furrowed deep in my pockets, sleeping, wrapped in some spare cloth Herc gave us.

(I legit just realized that it's supposed to be winter time btw)

As soon we were far enough away, John turned to me with a smirk. "What's the real reason you dragged me out here?"

"I'm a girl," I said shortly.

"Yeah... you already told me."

"And Alex is gonna wanna see me as a girl when we get to New York City. Or, more specifically, Alex is gonna wanna see Y/N Owens with her twin sister."

"Oh."

"I'm gonna need your help. I need you to make some sort of distraction when we arrive so that I can slip away."

"Alrighty then," he breathed. "I'll create a distraction and then you can run off and find your sister. Change quickly though, because we both know that Alex will go to see you two as soon as we get there."

"I know," I sighed. "Thanks, John!"

I stood on my tippy toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, racing off back through the trees before he could recover from his flustered state.

Every now and then, I would do that just to mess with him. He's cute when he's flustered. Well, in all honesty, he's cute all of the time, but that's not the point.

"Where's John?" Herc frowned as soon as I got back to the group.

"He's on his way," I smirked. As if summoned by my words, he pushed his way through the brush, blushing slightly when we met eyes.

After that, we started walking again, all of our legs protesting painfully. Not to mention the fact that it was freezing cold and the middle of December. Snow kept falling on my hair, melting, and only adding to the cold.

Halfway through the hike, I passed Fred and George to John who tried his best to keep them warm. He would check on them every couple of minutes, smiling softly at the sight of them sound asleep next to each other.

When we finally made it into the city, we stopped for a moment to gather our wits. John and I shared a quick look.

Suddenly, he began patting his pockets. Slowly at first, then frantically. "Umm," he stammered, "I think I lost Fred and George."

My eyes widened and I felt panic begin to rise in my chest, but then he shot me a discreet wink and let out a breath that I didn't realize I'd been holding.

Time to put on a show.

"What do you mean?!" I gasped, walking towards him with a faked angry look on my face. "You had them just a second ago! They were in your freaking pockets!"

"Well, now they're not in my freaking pockets!"

He patted his pockets again, and I took notice of the way he carefully avoided the one over his heart which was previously filled with the spare pieces of cloth. Now, it was occupied by two twin turtles, blissfully unaware of what was happening around them.

"Calm down, you two," Jeremy said, stepping between us. "They couldn't have gotten far."

"Yeah," Laff smiled, placing a comforting hand on John's shoulder. "We'll help you look for them, mes amis! Right, Alex?"

Alex stayed silent for a moment before crumbling under Herc's motherly stare. "Fine," he groaned. "I'll help you look for your missing turtle babies."

The six of us scrambled down the street in different directions, each of us scanning our surroundings for my missing children.

I made sure that everybody was distracted before ducking behind a nearby pub, racing off in the direction of Alex's house. I ran nonstop for a couple of minutes uninterrupted, getting a couple of odd looks from some confused adults and a few looks of admiration from the little boys and girls wandering the city.

Just as I made my way onto a street that I recognized, I slammed into some random dude heading towards the church in front of us.

"Ow," I groaned, sitting up from my place on the floor with a whine. "Sorry, sir."

"It's okay, lad," he sighed, standing up with an unsurprised expression as if this happened to him every day. "Why are you in such a rush?"

"I guess, I'm just a little eager to get home," I smiled, gesturing down at my uniform.

Immediately, the friendly look melted off of his face. "Oh," he frowned, "You're one of those revolutionary battle barbarians, aren't you?"

"Umm... I think so?"

He raised his nose to me, pointing towards the wooden cross placed outside the church building. "You should stop by for the evening service. You need Jesus."

I had to fight not to laugh. "I'll certainly have to consider it, Mr...?"

"Seabury. Samuel Seabury."

I could feel the fangirl in me fighting to be released.

"I'll certainly have to consider it, Mr. Seabury," I repeated, waving goodbye to him and resuming my race toward Alex's house.

Now to find my sister.


	22. Welcome Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! For some reason, I just keep wanting to update dis story sooo... here's this for y'all! Enjoy mah word vomit! Here's a cookie! *violently throws cookie at you*

Y/N's POV

I didn't realize how long I'd been at war until I stood frozen outside of Alex's house, unable to knock on the door. My sister was somewhere in that house, waiting for me.

My heart was beating so loud, I was sure that she could hear it from her room.

I hadn't seen her in five years. That's five birthdays we didn't get to celebrate together. Five Christmas'. Heck, five death days.

Wow, I missed her.

I took a deep breath and raised my fist to the door, knocking three times. My breath hitched slightly at the sound of running footsteps. A moment later, the door flew open and my sister stood a few feet away from me.

For a moment we just stared at each other with watery eyes.

Her hair had grown a lot longer, resting just above her waist, unlike mine which I'd been forced to keep semi-short during the war.

She was still wearing the same yellow dress she'd worn for our eighteenth birthday. It still looked brand new. I wondered if my dress still looked that nice.

"Hey," I breathed, my voice heavy.

"Hey," she said with a half chuckle, half sob.

Next thing I knew, we were hugging, both of us clinging to each other as if somebody was gonna come and separate us. We were crying. Ugly crying. Not that we cared much.

A couple of minutes later, Izze pulled me inside, dragging me over to the room we used to share and handing me my dress.

"Hurry and get changed," she smiled, wiping her eyes. "Alex will be here any second."

I did as told, taking off my uniform and 'binder' for the first time in years and replacing it with a corset and dress.

Izze did her best to brush out my hair, which fell just below my collarbones. I shivered a bit at the feeling of it not being in a ponytail.

Lastly, I pulled my gold necklace forward, letting it rest on top of my dress. When I was finally finished, I pulled my sister into another hug, chuckling slightly at how tight she held me.

"I missed you," She whispered, wiping away another stray tear that threatened to fall.

"I missed you, too."

I pulled back, grabbing her hand and leading her to the living room where we sat, trying to figure out what we were going to tell the boys when they got here.

Definitely, not the truth, that's for sure.

———————

John's POV

After a couple of minutes of 'searching' for Fred and George, John took them out of his pocket and set them on the ground behind a nearby bar.

"I FOUND THEM!" He yelled, trying to hide the smirk on his face.

As if I would actually lose my babies, he thought, Y/N would be so upset. Not to mention the fact that she'd probably kill me.

Within moments, the rest of the group was there, circling around him and the turtles.

Laff and Herc were fawning over them, their motherly instincts kicking in. Jeremy was examining John's uniform, trying to figure out how they escaped in the first place. Alex just sat there with a scowl, upset by the setback.

"Your children are— how you say? Pranksters!" Laff chuckled, patting Fred gently on the head.

"Yep!" John beamed. "Fred & George: The Pranking Turtle Twins!" He had a feeling that Y/N would love that title.

"Can we go now?" Alex sighed. "I have people waiting for me at home."

"Oui! C'mon, mes amis!" Laff announced, following Alex down the road in the direction of his house.

John quickly tucked his kids back in his pocket, letting them cuddle back into the scraps of cloth he brought with him and followed the group towards Alex's house. Towards Y/N.

He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous. He was downright panicking.

When he first met Y/N, he thought that she was a boy named Elijah Truman. Then, he realized that Elijah wasn't truly a man. He was a she and her name was Y/N. Pretty soon, John adopted some turtle babies with her and now...

Now, he was gonna get to see her when she wasn't disguised as 'Elijah'. He wasn't too worried about that part. He'd seen her as a girl from the moment he felt her... chest.

What he was nervous about, was asking her to go to the ball with him. As his date. Now, that was nerve racking.

What if she says no? What if she doesn't want to go with me? He couldn't help but wonder if she even liked him in that way.

After walking around for a little bit, they finally arrived at a worn out looking house and John took a deep breath, watching anxiously as Alex opened the door and stepped inside with a confident smile on his face.

"Y/N! Isabelle!" He beamed, rushing over to the two girls sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Alex?!"

Two identical looking girls rushed over and John did a doubletake. He knew that Y/N had a sister... but he didn't know that they were identical!

"Twins must run in the family," He whispered to Fred and George, laughing as the two of them began chirping back and forth.

The girl with the long hair turned to Lafayette with a mischievous smirk. "You must be the baguette bodyguard!"

"Oui, oui, mon ami" Laff nodding, smiling as she ushered him inside.

"Let me guess," she smiled, pointing to Herc. "You're the tailor?"

"Yep!"

"Well, my names Izze and this is my twin sister, Y/N!"

John's heart sped up slightly as he really took a good look at the girl he'd spent the last five years of his life with. He already thought that she was beautiful before, but now... now she was gorgeous.

She must have noticed him looking at her because she approached him with a blush. "My name is Y/N Owens. And who might you be?" She smirked.

John wasted no time in gently grabbing her hand and raising it to his lips, placing a small kiss along her knuckles.

"Your escort to the ball, if you'll have me."


	23. A Winters Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! We're officially twenty-three chapters into this story and nine songs into the musical... yeah, this might take a while. AnYwAyS, enjoy!

Y/N's POV

We were up early the next morning, getting makeovers from Herc. He's a freakin amazing fashion designer. There's literally no way that he could possibly be straight. No straight person dresses that good.

"And... done!" Herc beamed, letting my gold necklace rest over the fabric of my dress.

"Wow," Izze and I said at the same time, moving to stand next to each other in our fancy people outfits. Herc had given us two brand new ball gowns free of charge. (Which is a great thing because I'm poor as can be)

Then, he somehow managed to style our hair in a way that actually didn't make me cringe like crazy. I wouldn't have minded wearing my hear like this to school. It was beautifully curled, falling on my shoulder in elegant coils.

Somebody knocked on the door. "Are you done yet? My baguettes are going to get stale if we wait any longer!"

Herc rolled his eyes and moved to open the door, letting Laff inside. "Oh, wow!" The Frenchman gasped. "You two look fabulous, mes amis!"

"Why thank you!" Izze smiled, doing an over dramatic curtsy.

"So do you!" I said, gesturing to the baguettes he held at his side, labeled 'Perv Repellent' in big letters.

"Oh, I know," He smirked.

A couple of seconds later, Herc and Laff led us into the living room where the rest of the boys sat. 

Where John sat.

It's funny how you suddenly lose the ability to breathe when you see somebody who's simply really hot. Crap. Now even my thoughts sound cringy.

I'm pretty sure that John and I had been staring at each other for almost an entire minute when Laff had finally gotten up with an exasperated sigh to nudge us closer. "John, mon frere, give her the flowers."

I felt a small bouquet of flowers being placed in my hand. We were both a blushing mess.

"Now, take her hand."

John pressed his lips to my knuckles for a mere second before moving to stand next to me and holding my hand at his side. I subconsciously stepped closer to him.

"Now, please, please, take the turtles out of your pockets and leave them here."

He pouted but reluctantly set Fred and George in the small playpen that Laff had made for them the night before. I wanted to make a comment about them being too young to be home alone, but I held my tongue, knowing that Y/N wasn't their mom. Elijah was.

I want mah babies back.

Alex gave me a weird look.

"Hurry up, guys!" Jeremy said. "We're going to be late to be late to the ball if we don't leave now!"

"Alright, alright," John sighed, shooting me a small smile before leading me outside.

We could hear Izze and Jeremy walking behind us, rambling something about The Orchard. Laff was explaining what a perv was to Herc (Izze taught him the definition last night) a couple of feet away. Alex was in the back, walking alone.

It's okay, Alex, I thought, You're supposed to meet your future wife today, so you won't be lonely anymore.

When we finally made it to the Schuyler's house, Izze pulled me aside in the hall with a frown on her face. She had Lafayette standing a small distance away, guarding us against ze pervs.

"Y/N," she whispered, "You and John have spent the last five years together, neither of you admitting your feeling for each other. Do you know how much pent up sexual tension you've created?! I swear to freaking Lin Manuel-Miranda, if you don't at least kiss him-- on the lips-- tonight, I'm gonna beat you with a wet noodle!"

I'd learned over the years to take her threats 100% seriously.

"Please don't," I gulped. "I'll see about that kiss... but if it doesn't happen, please don't beat me with a wet noodle again."

"I make no promises," she smirked. "Now, hurry up! Your date's waiting for you!"

\--------------------

Tryn' to catch your eye from the side of the ballroom  
Everybody's dancin' and the band's top volume

\--------------------

I've never really been a dancer before, but I was having trouble leaving the dance floor tonight. John and I had been dancing nonstop for the past three hours and I was enjoying every darn second of it.

"I think that we're confusing the rest of the group," John laughed, spinning me in a circle.

"Oh, really? And why would you think that?" I smirked.

"One moment I'm fawning over Elijah Truman," he smiled, "And the next, I'm all over Y/N Owens."

"Is that so?"

I was trying my best to ignore the beautiful sight of Laff beating up a random perv in the corner of the ballroom with his baguettes, screaming at him in French. Izze did a good job of choosing him as the Baguette Bodyguard.

"Yep! Not to mention the fact that you seemed very upset about leaving the kids home alone."

"Oh, hush!" I chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Our babies are too little to be alone like that! They're probably terrified right now!"

"Speaking of Fred and George," he frowned, "I think that we're confusing them, too."

"How so?"

"I don't think that they like always switching between parents. Shared custody isn't working."

I could barely hear him over the sound of the music but his mischievous smirk was very clear to see. "Well, what's your solution?" I frowned, trying to figure out his plan.

"Screw custody," he said, placing a hand on my waist. "Why should their parents be apart at all?!"

"What do you mean? Are you saying that we should just be around each other all of the time?"

"I'm saying," He chuckled, "That we should be together. And, well, if you wanna be with me for all of time, I'm not opposed to that either."

Oh. Oh.

"I think I like that plan," I smirked, my voice taking on a playful tone. "For the kids, you know?"

"Oh yeah!" He laughed. "Totally just for the kids!"

The next thing I knew, I was on my tippy toes, kissing John Motherfreaking Laurens.

I guess I'm not getting beaten with a wet noodle tonight after all.


	24. Search Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Here's the long long long awaited chapter! Enjoy this majesticness!

Y/N's POV

The next thing I knew, I was on my tippy toes, kissing John Motherfreaking Laurens.

I guess I'm not getting beaten with a wet noodle tonight after all.

I smiled into the kiss, tangling my hands in his hair. Screw history, I thought, I wanna be a bit selfish this time. I never got the chance to really be with anybody back in the future and I wasn't going to pass up my opportunity this time.

A couple of moments later, we pulled apart and he rested his forehead on mine. He had quite the goofy smile on his face. "Together?" He breathed.

"Together, " I smirked.

"Hey, John!" Herc called, racing over to us. "I just realized that we--"

John and I jumped apart, standing next to each other awkwardly.

"Oh," Herc smirked. "Oh. Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope!" I said, internally cringing.

"Not at all," John sighed.

"Well," he smiled, "I just realized that we lost Elijah."

Turtleboi gasped dramatically. "What?!" I could almost see the sarcasm pooling off of him in waves.

"I know, right?!" Herc frowned, shaking his head regretfully. "I haven't seen him since we were searching for your kids. He probably still thinks that they're missing!"

"Where do you think he went?" I asked, trying my best not to just tie up my hair and do a full blown character swap.

"I don't know... We should go look for him!" He beamed, racing off towards Lafayette who was off in the corner, still beating up a random dude with his baguettes.

John and I shared a look. "Uh oh," I frowned.

"What's the plan?"

"Don't get caught."

"That's not a very good plan."

"Would you like to come up with something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No..."

"Great. Then stick to the plan."

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted, grabbing my hand and pulling me in the direction of Herc and Laff.

As soon as we got close to them, Laff turned towards us with a smile. "Mes amis!" He beamed, ignoring the beaten up man on the floor who quickly scrambled away from the Frenchman.

"LaffyTaffy," Herc said, "We lost Elijah."

"WHAT?!" He gasped, causing some people to look our way. "HOW?!"

"When Fred and George ran off, I think he got lost..."

"Uptown?"

"Yep."

"Merde." Laff held his baguettes at his side dutifully before marching off towards Alex who stood at the other side of the ballroom dancing with a girl in a blue dress who I recognized as Eliza.

He tapped him on the shoulder and brought him over to the group. "We lost Elijah," he said mournfully.

"Oh," Alex frowned. "Let me guess, you want me to help you look for him."

"Yep!" Herc smiled.

Alex briefly glanced over at Eliza before letting out a sigh. "Alright. Let's go, I guess."

John and I shared a surprised look. We didn't think he would say something along the lines of 'Good riddance', not agree to search for him-- I mean me.

I'm confuzzled.

Then it hit me. He's getting over John. The little Lams shipper in me wanted to go and cry in the corner for hours on end, shoving ice cream in my mouth every two seconds. I kinda feel bad for Alex.

Alex frowned at me. "Y/N, you stay here."

Nevermind.

"Umm... no."

"She can help me search!" John smiled, squeezing my hand. A smug smile made its way onto my face.

"Fine," Alex sighed, leading us all towards the exit.

We left the party pretty early, heading back into the city. As soon as we made it uptown, Laff turned to us with determination.

"Alex, you go down Sesame Street," He ordered, using one of his baguettes to point to the East.

"Herc, you search 101 Dalmatian Street."

I snickered, trying not to burst into an unholy amount of laughter.

"John and Y/N, you two go down Fangirl Road."

"Fine by me," I smirked.

"I'll go down Baguette Lane," Laff said.

(I formally apologize. I couldn't help myself.)

We all went our separate ways, searching for... well... me. John and I walked down Fangirl Road for almost fifteen minutes before I turned to him in confusion.

"How does one search for themself?" I frowned.

"No idea," he chuckled. "Do you think I'd get a prize if I turned you in?"

"No, but I think you'd get smacked."

"Oh. No, thanks."

"Umm, are we just gonna spend the rest of the night looking for... me?" I asked, fiddling with the hem of my dress.

"Probably," he frowned, "Unless we find some way to get them to stop."

We took a seat on a nearby bench, looking out at the street. I leaned my head on his shoulder. "And how are we supposed to do that?"

"Maybe we could write them a letter?" John winced. "Unless you want to go and dress back up as Elijah to talk to them in person."

"Nah, I like the letter option," I said, standing up and heading towards a nearby shop with John at my side. A couple of minutes later, we left the shop with some parchment and sat back down to write.

'Dear Lafayette, Hercules, Alexander, and John,

While searching for my babies, I ran into one of my cousins who I haven't seen in many years. They brought me to go and see the rest of my family. I figured that this was a little bit more important than the ball.

I'll meet y'all in the city square in three weeks, ready to head back to camp. John, don't go looking for trouble while I'm gone.

-E. Truman

PS. If you haven't found my babies by now, we will be dueling when I get back.'

"How's this?" I smirked, handing the letter to John. He read it over real quick before looking up at me with a smile.

"I don't go looking for trouble," He laughed. "Trouble usually finds me."

"Suuure," I chuckled.

A couple of minutes later, we'd reconvened with the rest of the group and John passed the letter to Laff. "Look at what Thayne brought me," He frowned.

Laff read it quickly, before looking up with a pout. "Aww, man!" He sighed. "I was gonna give him some special cooking lessons this week!"

"It's okay, FrenchFry," I told him, patting his back while he stared at his baguettes mournfully. "You can give me some cooking lessons in his place."

After that, we all headed back to the party dejectedly, except for Alex, of course, who was practically skipping the entire way to the Schuyler household. Herc and Laff kept talking back and forth about how many things 'Elijah' would miss out on.

Quite honestly, I found it pretty adorable. Who knew that these 200 year old men I used to read about in U.S. History would miss me so much...


	25. Tea Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! On with the story!!!

/N's POV

Once we finally made it back to the party we spotted Izze and Jeremy dancing together in the middle of the room. Slow dancing. I narrowed my eyes, watching them suspiciously. He had one hand on her waist and the other one was gently holding hers and they laughed and talked.

Now, here's one thing that I know about my sister: she makes friends with guys very easily. In fact, she only has a handful of girl friends. She's pretty much always been around a group of guys.

Another thing about my sister: She's a very touchy person. Hugs are her thing.

However, it's pretty darn obvious when she likes somebody because she gets extra affectionate and extra talkative, which is quite a feat because she loves to talk nonstop.

Because of this, I was having a really difficult time trying to figure out if this was 'platonic Izze' or 'romantic Izze'.

"Oooh!" Laff smiled.

John nudged me, raising his eyebrows. "What are your opinions on that?" He smirked, pointing towards my sister and my friend.

"Well," I frowned, "I think that Jeremy better keep his hands where they are or he may very well find them missing someday soon."

"Ooh, wow. You scare me sometimes." He had a playful gleam in his eyes causing me to laugh softly.

"Good," I smirked, leaning up and kissing him softly on the lips.

"I for one think they're cute!" Herc piped up.

Laff nodded in agreement. "Oui!"

I shuffled my feet awkwardly. "Come on, guys! For all we know, they could just be really great friends."

"Who are slow dancing together..." John continued.

"Very closely," Herc finished, giving me a pointed look before walking off with Lafayette to go find the booze.

I groaned exasperatedly, grabbing John's hand and pulling him off towards my sister.

"There y'all are!" Izze beamed. "We went looking for y'all a while ago, but we couldn't find y'all anywhere."

"We went looking for Elijah," John told her, pouting slightly. "But apparently he'll be staying with his family until we go back."

"Ohhh," She smirked. "Poor Fred and George..."

"They'll be okay," I said, squeezing John's hand. "I'll help take care of them while Elijah's gone."

We danced for the rest of the night, rarely stopping. It was nice to be able to just be John and Y/N, without having to hide behind a fake identity. To just be us.

———————

Izze woke me up bright and early the next morning, just about ready to burst with excitement. "Good morning!" She beamed, reaching forward and ripping my thin blanket off of me.

"Ugh," I groaned, curling into a ball.

"C'mon!" She laughed. "The guys all left to go run some errands uptown, but they'll be back soon. I've been watching your babies for the past two hours! They need to see their mommy!"

"My feet hurt," I whined, burying my face in my pillow.

"Well, maybe your feet wouldn't hurt if you hadn't been dancing with your boyfriend all night long."

"But he's cuteeee!"

"Yeah, yeah," She chuckled. "Hurry up! Your babies are waiting for you."

I grudgingly rolled out of bed, falling on the floor. "Fine."

A couple of minutes later, I walked into the living room in my causal dress, combing my fingers through my hair. Izze was sitting on the floor with Fred and George in her lap, ranting to them about how she missed her secret chocolate stash from back in the future.

As soon as she noticed me, she looked up with a mischievous grin. "So," she smirked, "You and John?"

"So, you and Jeremy?" I countered.

"Oh, hush! We're just friends!" She stammered, blushing slightly.

"Sureee..."

Her smile faded into a frown and her eyes misted over as she fidgeted with Freddy's sweater. "He kinda reminds me of Jacob," She whispered.

"What makes you say that? Besides the fact that they're probably related, of course."

"Well, they have the same eyes and smile but Jeremy's a bit taller. Every time I look at him, I see Jacob. It was different with Jacob though, I always thought of him as my brother..." She sighed, staring down at her hands.

I've been around my sister 24/7 since we were kids, so I know when something's bothering her. "What's wrong?" I asked her, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

"Listen," she frowned, "There's something I haven't told you—"

"What time is it?!" John yelled, walking inside with the rest of the guys behind him.

"SHOWTIME! SHOWTIME!" They all shouted, setting a few bags on the floor.

"Guess what!" Alex beamed, reaching into one of the bags.

"You bought John a turtle?" Izze guessed, placing a smile on her face and standing up to greet them. I made a mental note to talk to her sometime soon. Something about the look on her face left a bad feeling in my stomach.

"I declare that his name shall be Ron!" I yelled, racing over excitedly.

"Umm... no," Alex laughed. "Actually, I got a new uniform! I outgrew my old one!" He puffed out his chest proudly, holding out the uniform for us to see.

"Congrats!" Izze smiled.

"Oh, Izze!" Herc jumped, pushing Alex out of the way. "We just got a new dress in the shop yesterday and you've gotta come try it on!"

"Really?!" She beamed.

"Yep! C'mon!"

Just as quickly as they arrived, they were gone, heading back uptown to go look at that dress. Jeremy stayed behind to put away the stuff and chose to spend some time with my babies... and have a little talk with Jeremy.

"Mr. Cooper," I began, trying my best to look intimidating with two tiny turtles in my palms. "I would like to know what your intentions are with my sister."

"Oh," He stammered. "I-I don't know..."

"Well," I frowned. "Whatever you end up doing, I just want you to know that if you hurt my sister in any way shape, or form, you'll never get the chance to pass down that beautiful orchard of yours."

He gulped nervously. "Yes, ma'am."

We talked for a bit about Izze while watching the turtle twins. Everything was fine until eventually, he looked up at me with a frown. "Hey, Elijah," He said, "Can you pass me Freddy? I think that there's a rip in his sweater."

"Sure," I answered, passing him the turtle.

Then it hit me. "Oh, shit."

"Elijah Y/N Truman, huh?" Jeremy laughed. "That's a pretty interesting cover name. Where'd you come up with it?"

"Well— you see, umm..."


	26. Memories In The Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! If you can't already tell, this is probably my favorite out of all of my stories... hehe. SoOoOo, here's another chapter! Enjoy!

Izze's POV (the night before)

One moment I was watching Lafayette beat a man with his baguettes over Jeremy's shoulder; and the next, I was in full blown fangirl mode. I'm talking 'pterodactyl screech' fangirl mode.

Why, you ask?

Well, my dearest, internal monologue, because my twin sister and John Motherfreaking Laurens were k-i-s-s-i-n-g a small distance away from me. Talk about an OTP!

"Holy crapadoodledoo! Jeremy, look!" I gestured towards them, trying not to draw too much attention with my squealing.

"Gollybageebus," he gasped.

"I ship it!"

"Ship?" He questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. "Like a boat?"

"Umm... no," I frowned, launching into a lesson in fangirl terms. By the time I'd finished explaining what it meant to ship two people, my OTP seemed to have disappeared.

On the bright side, Jeremy was talking like a professional fangirl.

"So let me get this straight," Jeremy said, "In this instance, Lams is sinking and (insert ship name here) is sailing, right?"

"Mhm," I hummed, looking over his shoulder to see if I could see anybody in our group. They were all gone.

He must've noticed that I was distracted, because a moment later he asked, "What's wrong?"

"I think the group left," I told him.

He quickly scanned the room before leading me off the dance floor. "Where do you think they went?" He frowned.

"I don't know..."

A couple of minutes later, Jeremy and I were walking through the streets of New York City in our fanciest clothes, looking for our friends. We were clueless, searching just about everywhere, but to no avail.

Normally, I wouldn't have been phased by my sister's disappearance. But that was five years ago. After she dies and goes off to war, you start to worry a bit when she randomly poofs.

The rational part of me knew that she'd just left the party for a couple of minutes, but the other part of me said that she was lost or in danger.

The last few times I let her out of my sight she either died or ended up in a warzone, which wasn't a very comforting thought.

After about five minutes of searching, my heart was beating a mile a minute and I couldn't stop thinking about all of the different things that could be happening to her right now.

Jeremy could tell that I was freaking out I guess, because he stopped me in front of Mulligan's Tailor Shop, resting a hand on my shoulder. "Are you absolutely sure that you don't know where they could be?"

I racked my brain, thinking back to five years ago when we first arrived in the past. We stayed with Alex, we went to the tailor's shop, and then we went with the Schuyler sisters to The Orchard.

Oh, crap. The Orchard.

"There's only one other place that I could think of," I breathed, grabbing his hand and leading him in the direction of the place I'd been to so long ago.

He chuckled softly once he realized where we were going, looking down at me with a smirk. When we arrived, he opened the gate with a flourish, leading me inside. "My family's place, huh?"

"Yep," I sighed, looking around with a wistful expression.

When I was here last time, the place was full of color. Reds and greens were everywhere in sight and the sun was beating down on us.

Now, snow covered the ground and trees like a freezing cold blanket and the trees were barren.

We were the only people there.

"A couple of years ago, the Schuyler sisters took Y/N and me here," I told him. "We were new to town and we'd been separated from our family, so it was a welcomed escape from reality. She seemed to really love this place."

"Do you want to go and search around?" Jeremy asked. "They could be on the other side of the orchard."

"It's not worth it," I sighed, taking a seat in the snow and leaning against a nearby tree. "They couldn't be here. There's not any footprints in the snow and it stopped snowing hours ago. They're probably on the other side of town right now."

"If you don't mind me asking," Jeremy said, sitting down next to me. "Why are you so worried? We know that she's with the guys and they would never hurt her. Wherever she is, she's safe."

"Honestly," I frowned, "I have no idea. She doesn't know the city very good, yet. She could get lost..."

"I thought you've lived here for years though," he frowned.

"Yeah, but she's been kinda busy near the house for quite a while," I explained, shivering slightly from the cold. "She doesn't get out much."

"Oh," he chuckled, scooting closer to me. Boy was I thankful for his warmth.

We sat there for a moment, sifting small amounts of snow through our fingers.

"Elijah won't be able to visit," Jeremy told me.

"Who?"

"Elijah? Your-- what's it called? Your, uh, boyfriend?"

Oops, I forgot about her double identity. She really should've given me a better cover story. I'm not a really great liar, so keeping up with my Mulan of a sister gets an eensy weensy bit confusing sometimes.

"Is that so?" I tried to look concerned but I feel like I was giving off some strong 'guilty vibes'.

"Yeah." He let the snow in his hands fall to the ground and cleared his throat, turning to face me.

Uh oh, I thought, Here comes the confrontation.

"Izze, Elijah's your sist--"

"Yep." I already knew that I wouldn't be able to lie my way out of this, so why even try?

We sat in silence for a moment before he chuckled, resting his head against the bark of the tree. "I knew that she wasn't really who she said she was ever since we first arrived at the camp."

I turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. This outta be interesting.

"She introduced herself as Y/N and then tried to cover it up by saying that's her middle name," he laughed. "And she was just about the most confused person in the entire camp. I had to teach her how to use a gun."

"How bad was she?"

"She almost shot me in the butt!"

"Why am I not surprised?" I laughed.

"Not to mention the fact that she had a painfully obvious crush on John! They adopted turtles together almost immediately!"

"Ah, yes! My nephews," I nodded, trying to keep a straight face.

"Then, of course, 'Elijah' got separated from the group as soon as we arrived. On the bright side, John and Y/N hit it off!"

"Are you accusing John of cheating on my boyfriend?!" I gasped, placing a hand over my heart in mock offense. We collapsed into laughter and he stood, stifling his holding out a hand to help me up.

Moments later we were back on our way to the party, brushing the snow off of our clothes. I paused outside the door and he squeezed my hand, nodding reassuringly. "She'll be fine," he told me.

"Yeah," I sighed. "I know."


	27. Not A Word

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! It's meeeeeee! I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update, but are y'all ready for some more tAsTy word vomit?! Yummm... aNyWaYs, enjoy!

Y/N's POV (Back to the present— I mean past! I mean... well, y'all know what I mean. I hope.)

"Elijah Y/N Truman, huh?" Jeremy laughed. "That's a pretty interesting cover name. Where'd you come up with it?"

"Well— you see, umm..."

I was kinda at a loss for words. What do you say to somebody who confronts you about your biggest secret? Or second biggest, I guess.

I thought back to when this happened last time and took a deep breath, preparing myself to look stupid. It wasn't a very difficult task.

"OH MY GOSH, IS THAT A TURTLE?!" I gasped, scooping George up from off of the floor and hugging him to my chest.

Before Jeremy could react, I yelled, "I DECLARE THAT HIS NAME SHALL BE GEORGE!" and ran into me and my sister's room, leaving him behind in the living room, blinking in confusion.

I sat on the bedroom floor with my child in my hands, leaning against the door to keep Jeremy out.

"Yes, George," I panted, "That just happened."

A couple of seconds later, Jeremy came knocking at the door. "Y/N?" He said.

I didn't answer.

"Oh, come on! I just wanna talk!"

I stayed silent. This wasn't a great circumstance, to say the least.

My hope was that he'd walk away and forget that this had ever happened. Unfortunately, I wasn't very lucky.

I managed to hum Satisfied' under my breath twice before I heard the sound of him sitting down on the other side of the door. "Are you still there?" I sighed.

"Yep," came the tired reply.

"We don't talk about... that."

"But—"

"Cooper."

"Yes ma'am?"

"Not a word."

He sighed dejectedly. "Yes, ma'am"

George chirped up at me questioningly and I snapped to attention, internally scolding myself. "Hey, Jeremy? Do you have Fred?"

"Yeah."

I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding, opening the bedroom door just enough to stick my hands through. "Pass me my baby, please!" I told him.

Jeremy placed the tiny turtle in my hands with a smirk. "So," he laughed, "You admit that you're their mother?"

"No!" There was a moment of awkward silence and I sighed in defeat. "Okay, so maybe I am but that doesn't mean anything—"

"Sure it doesn't."

"I feel attacked."

"Wait a minute— if you're Elijah, then that means that Izze isn't courting anybody!" I narrowed my eyes at the excitement in his voice.

"Yep."

I stood from my place on the floor and opened the door with a serious expression. "If you hurt her..."

"I know, I know," he sighed. "No future children for me."

"Yep!"

After that beautiful occurrence, we went back into the living room to watch the kids. Within thirty minutes, the rest of the crew was back.

"Hey, Y/N?" John smiled, taking a seat next to me on the couch while everybody else laughed about Lafayette's BaguetteBodygaurd tales. "Izze told me about a special place that you haven't been to in a while. What do you say we go on a quick walk?"

"Hmm, can the kids come with us?" I asked, hugging the babies to my chest.

"Of course! What kind of father do you think I am?!"

"An adorable one," I laughed, rushing to the door and waving goodbye to the group with John right behind me.

Pretty soon, we arrived at the old wooden gate, covered in snow that marked the entrance to the Cooper family's orchard.

It was kinda odd stepping inside. It looked so... empty. Maybe it had to do with the snow coating the trees and the lack of color surrounding us, but something about this place was making me feel almost lifeless.

"What's wrong?" John frowned.

"Nothing." I did my best to shake off the feeling and guided him towards a nearby tree where we sat down in the snow.

"Well, Fred and George like the orchard," He told me.

"Do they?"

The turtles were huddled together on top of a little snow mound, almost shivering from the cold. 

"Of course they do! They're just a little cold." John winced and pulled a spare piece of cloth out from the pocket of his shirt, tossing it to the kids who happily cuddled into it.

"Did you bring me a blanket?" I asked him, shivering slightly.

"I brought you a John Laurens," he smirked, scooting closer and wrapping me in a hug. "Does that count?"

"Absolutely," I smiled, thankful for his warmth.

How the crap did I end up with this man?! I swear to frickin Lin Manuel-Miranda that this guy is the epitome of perfection! And he's dating me?! How?!

"You know, I think that Alex might be trying to court that girl from the ball that he danced with," John smirked, "Her names Eliza Schuyler, I think."

"Is that so?"

"Yep! As soon as we got to the tailors, he snuck off to go 'visit a friend' and seemed kinda flustered."

I listened for a little bit while he told me about their visit to the shop, but I couldn't get my mind off of what he'd said about Alex. Ultimately, I already knew that Hamliza was gonna happen right about now. Even still, I didn't expect it to happen this quickly.

"What happened when we were gone? Jeremy seemed kinda shaken up."

"He knows that I'm Elijah," I sighed. "He probably got it out of Izze. She's a terrible liar."

"Uh oh. Let me guess, you panicked when he confronted you?"

"...Maybe."

"How bad?" He looked at me with a smug look and I considered burying myself under the snow. Anything would be better than embarrassing myself by telling him.

I didn't wanna crush the kids though, so I decided not to do that.

"I screamed 'OH MY GOSH, IS THAT A TURTLE?! I DECLARE THAT HIS NAME SHALL BE GEORGE!' and hid in my room with Georgie," I mumbled, sticking out my bottom lip in a pout.

Yeah, I wasn't always the best under pressure.

"Sweet Jesus," he gaped. "You readopted our son?" He looked down at George and then back up at me, looking for some sort of explanation.

"Yeah, we don't talk about that..."

"How do you even—"

"John..."

He pouted slightly, placing the turtles in his lap.

"Not a word."

A goofy smile made its way onto his face and he saluted. "Yes ma'am! But next time that either of us gets confronted, leave the response to me."

I couldn't help but chuckle under my breath.

"Gladly."


	28. Breaking The Ice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Now, I promised y'all some angst and I'm here to deliver! So, grab your tissues and be ready to cry! *sobs onto keyboard* Don't enjoy!
> 
> !!Warning!! (Mentions of suicide)

Y/N's POV

"It's not that cold."

"You know, you keep saying that, yet I keep freezing." I pulled my coat tighter around my body and stuffed my hands into my pockets, trying to ignore the way that my teeth chattered while I walked.

"It feels great outside!" John beamed, brushing some snow off of his shirt.

We were walking out to a nearby lake behind Alex's house that was completely frozen over and it was 20 degrees outside.

Even worse, we were carrying some shabby looking ice skates in our hands. Needless to say, they didn't look anywhere near as safe or comfy as the ones in the future.

"I dunno, guys," Izze frowned, staring down at her skates with an uneasy look. "These look kind of... fragile."

"What are you talking about?!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Those are some of the safest skates in New York! Herc's dad made them!"

I wasn't very convinced. I shuffled through the snow, bumping into John with a smug smirk. "Where is Herc, anyways?"

"He's at a bar with Laff," he chuckled.

"And Alex?"

"Out with Eliza."

"Oooh!"

"Oooh indeed."

A couple of minutes later, we arrived at a small clearing with a frozen over pool of water and put on our skates.

Now, when John had suggested we go ice skating earlier, I'd been all for it. However, now that we were actually standing near the ice... not so much.

I leaned against one of the trees lining the clearing, a good distance away from the ice. I could feel tiny bits of snow landing on my hair.

"M-Maybe I should just stand over here," I said, trying not to hug the tree.

"Absolutely not!" John laughed, racing over to me and grabbing my hand to lead me to the ice.

I stifled a startled shriek as I felt my body move away from the safe and sturdy tree and get closer and closer to the frozen over lake.

I tried giving John my very best puppy dog eyes, but he just looked away with a determined look on his face before giving me a small 'encouraging' push.

The moment my skates hit the ice, I fell on my butt with a graceful 'Oof!' and glared up at John.

"Sorry!" He winced, helping me up with an apologetic kiss to the cheek.

He grabbed my hands and didn't let go this time, instead choosing to guide me slowly around the lake. We skated around like that for a while, holding hands as we inched across the ice.

It was actually kind of calming, once I got over the initial fear of the ice breaking beneath my feet. Eventually, I leaned my head against John's chest with a content smile.

I was only disturbed once when I heard Izze giggling at me from a couple feet away as she chanted '(insert ship name here)' under her breath. Naturally, I was forced to grab some of the snow that was piling up on my head and throw it at her and her accomplice.

After a while of skating with John, I finally gained enough confidence to try doing it on my own. I had a shaky start, but pretty soon, I was skating circles around my traitor of a sister.

Now, remember when I said that I got over my fear of the ice breaking under me? Well, that fear came back full force when I heard a nasty crack from right next to my foot while I skated near the center of the lake.

My eyes went wide and I heard Izze scream. Then, the ice under my feet gave way and I thrust an arm out to catch myself as I fell into the freezing cold water.

I was immediately submerged, all except for a couple fingers that were clinging to the layer of ice above me.

I could feel my muscles tensing up and my lungs fighting to suck in a breath of air in my panic while the water glued itself to my body.

I heard muffled screams from above me as my fingers began to slip.

————————

Izze's POV

"NO!" I screamed, almost tripping over my feet and I attempted to run to my sister.

Not again, I thought. I can't lose her again.

Before I could get close enough to reach her, John made it to the edge of the hole and grabbed Y/N by the wrist, pulling her up and out of the water.

As soon as she was out, he scrambled away from the broken ice and held her against his chest on the snow covered grass near the lake. She clung to him, panting and shivering from the shock and cold.

I raced over to them as quickly as I could, pulling Y/N's wet hair away from her face while trying my best not to break down crying.

"We should head back to the house," Jeremy told us. "I'll run ahead and start a fire to warm her up."

John nodded to him, taking off his coat and wrapping it around my sister before picking her up and holding her tightly as we walked back towards Alex's house.

As we walked, I finally let my tears fall, hurriedly wiping them away before they could turn to ice.

———————

Y/N's POV

Later that night, I sat by the fire behind Alex's house with multiple blankets wrapped around me and Izze sitting next to me. She hadn't left my side since I fell through the ice.

John and Jeremy were inside, cooking dinner.

While we were sitting there, I saw Izze's shoulder begin to shake slightly as she tried not to cry.

"Hey," I frowned, reaching over and hugging her to my side. "I'm okay, now. I'm fine."

"I know," She stammered. "But last time, you weren't." Her eyes were brimmed with tears and her voice was breaking with emotion.

"Last time?"

"Our birthday. 2020." She was talking so quietly that I had to lean in a bit in order to actually hear her.

"What do you mean? I turned out fine! We both did!"

"I don't think you understand. You were dead," She whimpered. "I saw you die! I saw them take your body away! You were dead!"

I felt the tears well up in my eyes as the harsh reality set in.

I died.

Izze gripped the hem of her dress, twisting it in her palms as she stared at the ground. "There's something I didn't tell you about that night."

A small part of me knew what she was going to say. My heart raced and I let out a small sob.

"I didn't die in a car crash," she muttered, knuckles going white from how tightly she gripped her dress.

I shook my head, not wanting to hear her say the words she was fighting to tell me. Another sob escaped my lips.

"M-My meds," She cried. "I o-overdosed." She took one look at me before breaking down into sobs. "I'm s-so s-sorry!"

I hugged her to my chest, feeling her tears soak the front of my dress. I was sure that I was leaving my own tears on the back of hers.

"Don't." I let out a shaky breath. "Don't apologize. I love you."

"I love you, too," she breathed.


	29. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! It's officially time to get this plot moving along! Now, you might wanna pay extra attention to the time skips in this chappie... (you might have to do some song lyric math *wink wink*) AnYwAyS, enjoy!

Y/N's POV (3 weeks later)

I was having a peaceful dream. Keyword— was.

John and I were at the orchard, sitting by the trunk of a tree and talking about Fred and George who sat happily in my hands.

It was summer, I think. The sun was beating down on us and the trees were full of fruit. It was beautiful, to say the least.

John, though, looked a bit... different. It was barely noticeable, but looking at him, I could see the faintest of smile lines and a ring on his left hand.

I turned away from John at the sound of an unfamiliar noise. It was laughter. A little kid's laughter. Something about it made me smile.

A moment later, a small girl, no older than six, came bursting through the trees before sitting down in Johns lap.

"Daddy, Daddy, look!" She beamed, tapping him on the shoulder and happily placing a beautiful red and gold flower in his hand.

John gasped, carefully tracing a finger over one of the petals. "Wow, where'd you find this?"

"By Uncle Jeremy's favorite tree!" She giggled before leaning close to his ear and whispering loudly, "It's for Mommy!"

"Oh?" He smiled, "Well, why don't you go and give it to her?"

"Okay!" She quickly took the flower and climbed out of Johns lap, moving to stand in front of me.

"Here Mommy!" She chirped, reaching up and placing the flower over my ear. "I got you a flower!"

"Thank you, baby!" I said, pulling her into a hug. I could see John smiling at us from over the girl's shoulder.

"It's beautiful, Frances," he breathed, causing the girl to smile even brighter.

And then, I woke up.

"EVERYBODY UP!" Somebody yelled, "TODAYS THE DAY, MES AMIES!"

I groaned, promptly rolling out of bed and onto the cold floor, still tangled up in my blankets. Izze did the same, falling onto the floor next to me with a yawn.

Somebody knocked on the door and we muttered a tired 'Come in'.

"Wake up!" John chirped, walking inside and helping my sister and me off the floor. "Alex needs y'all's help."

His smile reminded me of the little girl from my dream.

Frances.

My daughter.

A couple of minutes later, we walked into the living room where Alex sat, fidgeting nervously with his suit. As soon as he saw us, he let out a breath of relief.

"Thank God, you're here!" He said, giving us a desperate look. He pointed to his hair which fell across his shoulders limply. "Help?"

"I got dis," Izze smirked, reaching forward and grabbing a piece of his hair, immediately sectioning it into three parts.

"Izze?" I frowned.

"Mhm?"

"No braids."

Her hands froze, still holding a partially formed dutch braid. "Why?" She pouted, giving me her best puppy dog eyes.

I had to fight not to give in right there. "Look," I sighed, "This is a very formal occasion. He needs to impress Mr. Schuyler today."

"My braids are very impressive!" She pointed out.

"What are braids?" Alex chimed in.

"How about a simple ponytail?" I suggested.

"Fine," she grumbled, unraveling the braid and pulling his hair into a sleek ponytail at the nape of his neck.

After that, we all gathered on the couch to discuss the game plan.

"First, you're gonna introduce yourself to Mr. Schuyler," John said, looking up at Alex with a serious expression.

"Then greet Eliza!" I smiled.

"You're gonna have to take him into another room to ask for his blessing!" Herc said.

"After that, you'll eat with him," Laff said, snacking on a baguette.

"And once he approves," Izze smirked, "you can propose to Liza!"

Alex gulped, standing up with a nervous nod, and walking over to the door. We walked him down the road and into town, while the guys gave him their best tips and pointers.

Eventually, we could see the Schuyler Mansion in the distance and we watched him walk up to the house and disappear behind the closed door while we all screamed 'GOOD LUCK'. Laff and Herc were trying not to cry from happiness as they watched him leave, hugging each other for comfort.

Once Alex was gone, we all went back into town. Laff and Herc went to go eat at a small bakery on Sesame Street while John and I wandered around, not having a set destination.

"I've been here before," I gasped, hearing a familiar sound coming from a couple of streets away. It was music.

Before John could react, I'd grabbed his hand and started tugging him toward the square.

It was just like I remembered. The place was packed, people were bustling around, filling up the entire space. You could just barely hear the faintest of music playing over the sound.

"Where are we?" John breathed, looking around at the many colorful decorations placed everywhere in preparation for the holidays.

"Town square," I beamed, squeezing through the crowd with him right behind me.

Eventually, we found a small space with nobody in it and I slung my arms over his shoulder with a smirk. He laughed, placing his hands on my waist as we began to dance in the middle of the crowd, laughing as we constantly stepped on each other's feet.

"I thought you didn't like to dance?" John smirked.

"I don't," I laughed. "But I'll make an exception for you."

He chuckled, spinning us in a circle. "And why might that be?"

I blushed. "Well, Laurens, I like you a lot."

That caused him to blush and a goofy smile made its way onto his face. "I like you a lot, too, Owens."

I got on my tippy toes, kissing him softly on the lips before stepping on his toes again, causing him to laugh.

As we danced, I could almost imagine the little girl from my dream spinning around in circles with us, giggling happily.

John spun me around again and I laughed, setting aside my thoughts and focusing on him. Even with the bustling crowd around us, it wasn't too difficult of a task.


End file.
